Reality Cubed
by The Altered Destinies
Summary: A Sequel to Reality Squared
1. Chapter 1

RollCall3

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

In Order of Appearance:

Continuum #92684713 (Fist of the Northstar)

Wanda Kenshiro -Daughter of Ranma and Aila, the Fist of the Northstar

Continuum #60429318 (Master of Mosquiton)

Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Mosquiton and Inaho, Vampyr Efreet Mizuhara -Adopted Daughter of Makoto and Ifurita, Demon-Goddess

Ryoma Saotome -Son of Ranma and Ukyo, Master of Anything Goes Cooking

Minos Taro -Son of Pantsaru Taro and Kasumi, Shotokan Karate Ryu

Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Konatsu and Shampoo, Apprenticed Witch

Tachi Kuno -Son of Tatewaki and Nabiki, Nampo Kendo Ryu

Temporal Nexus (Timecop/Lord Calvin of Otherwhen)

Ranma Saotome -Time Cop, Master of the Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu, Avatar of Shiva

Nabiki Saotome -Time Cop Dispatcher, Lore Master, Wife and Partner to Ranma

Ranko Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Akane, Apprenticed Time Cop, Holder of the Pendant called "The Heart of Destiny"

Ryoga Hibiki -Time Cop, Ranma's main Partner, Avatar of Vishnu

Akari Hibiki -Wife of Ryoga, Trainer of Sumo Pigs Ryonami -Time Patrol Dispatcher, Assistant and best friend to Nabiki

Continuum #47512936 (Ruronin Kenshin)

Hiroshi Honsamu -Son of Maki and Takai, Shinto Priest and Hybrid Dark Worlder

Sayo Sanosuke -Daughter of Ranma and Kasumi, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu

Continuum #59343921 (Nabiki 1/2: A Very Scary Thought)

Tenko Masaki -Daughter of Tenchi and Ryoko

Ryeka Masaki -Daughter of Ryoko and Ayeka

Teneka Masaki -Son of Tenchi and Ayeka

Veil Morisato -Daughter of Keiichi and Belldandy

Ekko Daitokuji -Daughter of Beiko and Aiko

Lylac Tendo -Daughter of Nabiki and Shampoo

Kihoshi Kuramitsu -Daughter of Kiyone and Mihoshi

Continuum #96214735 (Dragon Ball Z)

Ayane Tofu -Daughter of Korato and Kasumi, a Saiyajin Warrior

Cerdwin -Daughter of Lung and Azusa, a Celtic Demi-Goddess

Berka -Daughter of Tatewaki and Sakura, a Kitsune Fox Warrior &amp; Genius

Continuum #3742196 (Aiyaa, My Goddess! By Trella)

Freya Kuno -Goddess of Love and Battles, wife of Tatewaki

Lyn Reikou Kuno -Daughter of Tatewaki and Freya, Valkyrie in Training

Continuum # 73542196 (Patlabor/Iczer-One)

Muku Dori Senzenen -Daughter of Mikado and Akane, Iczelion Warrior

Rhea Kano -Daughter of Iczer-One and Nagisa, Iczer Four

Continuum #32145896 [A Tale of Two Wallets (Version Two)]

Shanma Saotome -Eldest daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Curse of the Were-cat.

Mace Saotome -Shanma's little brother, also has the same ability.

Ganymede Kuonji -Hermaphrodite offspring of Ukyo and Makoto Kuonji, has Senshi abilities.

Kachima Tendo -Daughter of Ranma and Nabiki, Lore Master in Training.

Kokaku Tendo -Kachima's twin sister and an Apprenticed Healer.

Continuum #32145896(B) [A Tale of Two Wallets (Version One)]

Kinko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Akane from a near-parallel dimension.

Continuum # 86741253 (Black Magic M-66/Ranma NK Project, by Celeste Byrd)

Adam (Michael) Saotome -Son of Ranma and Azusa,

Cyborg Eve (Moira) Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Azusa, Cyborg, Twin Sister

Continuum # 62491378 (Honor and Loyalty, an Elseworlds story by John Walter Biles)

Touga Kuno -Son of Tatewaki and Ranma,  
Ryonosuke Senzenen -Son of Mikado and (x)  
Xandar Kurenai -Son of Sasuke and Kaori

Yoriko Kuonji -Daughter of Ranma and Ukyo

Minx Tendo -Daughter of Gymp and Akane, a Gremlin

Continuum # 74968231 (Robotech/Gundam Wing)

Team Alpha-Zero,  
Wing Gundam Training Unit

Akira Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Yuki (17) Pilot: Firebird

Urika Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Konatsu (17) Pilot: Iron Chef

Saber Kuno -Daughter of Shampoo and Kodachi (16) Pilot: Steel Serpent

Trolla Galt -Zentraedi Clone-sister to Mireya (12) Pilot: Steelshark

Dana Stirling -Daughter of Max and Mireya (10) Pilot: Sunstone

Continuum: # 985643217 (The Shikima Interface, by T.H. Tiger)

Onnama Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Ryoga, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu

Idou Kuonji -Son of Ukyo and Akane, Anything Goes Cooking

Kanazuchi Tendo -Daughter of Ranma and Akane, Tendo Anything Goes Ryu

Koku Tendo -Daughter of Shampoo and Nabiki, Financial Wizard

Neko Tendo -Twin sister of Koku, blue haired Cultural Cat Girl

Continuum # 46972185 (Shampoo 1/2, by D.B Sommers)

Silver Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Anything Goes

Continuum # 472193567 (Inspired by "Purple Haired Destiny," by Ryan Anderson)

Rinse Saotome -Daughter of Shampoo and Ranma, heir to the Anything Goes Ryu

Yinra Saotome -Daughter of Akane and Ranma, younger sister to Rinse

Yangra Saotome -Son of Akane and Ranma, twin brother to Yinra

Tachi Kuno -Daughter of Nabiki and Tatewaki, Kendo Master

Ryeka Masaki -Daughter of Ayeka and Ryoko, half Juraian Princess

Atari Moroboshi -Daughter of Lum and Ataru, Princess of the Oni

Ryoukio Hibiki -Son of Ukyo and Ryoga, heir to the Kuonji School of Okonomiyaki

Brand Tendo -Son of Kurumi and Mousse, Hidden Weapons Master

Ivory Kuno -Daughter of Kodachi and Mousse, Rhythmic Gymnastics

Continuum #29457180 (Knights and Warriors)

Watazashi Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Kodachi, Anything Goes Gymnastics

Yuan-Yen Tendo -Daughter of Mousse and Nabiki, Watazashi's Partner

Continuity # 72391865 [Jedi Kasumi (one possible future)]

Tenma Saotome -Son of Ranma and Kasumi, Jedi Knight

Bonbon Toru -Daughter of Tofu and Shampoo, Force Master

Continuum # 85249731 (Scary Bet Series, by Gregg Sharp)

Cinnamon Saotome -Son of Herb and Ranma, Prince of the Musk Empire

Nutmeg Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Concubine

Continuum #28461953 (Convergences, by Ross McKenzei)

Ryo Saotome -Son of Ranma and Ukyo

Belldandy Tofu -Daughter of Tofu and Kasumi

Continuum # 87219654 (Ill Met by Starlight)  
The Dark Citadel

Ranma Saotome -The Evil incarnation of Ranma, driven insane by the Nekoken

All Series are the products of their original creators, some of my versions and projections of events that might lead to the possible futures that I have outlined. Other possibilities may be suggested or implied depending on your inclinations, and feel free to speculate if you feel the urge to explore your own ideas about the future of the Ranma cast's future progeny.

Jim Robert Bader

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works.


	2. Chapter 2

RanCubed01

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

Prologue.

Stormwatch

Continuum #92684713

Ilea ran for her tiny little life, as fast as her short legs could carry her, convinced that the very devil himself was hot on her heels, which was not too far off an approximation.

"Look at the little runt scurry!" one of her tormentors called out, "The little rat thinks she can escape us!"

"Hah, fat chance!" her second pursuer snorted, and fired off a rifle shot for good measure, hoping to nail the fleeing child in the back with a single shell casing.

It was a twist of fate (as well as her ankle) that caused Ilea to trip at just that particular instant before the bullet would have claimed her, so instead of the kill shot she suffered the substantially lesser pain and humiliation of scraping her face against the dirt as she landed sprawling in a tumble, badly bruised and disheveled but alive for all her troubles.

"You missed," the tormentor driving the motorcycle sneered.

"Ah, the punk got lucky, that's all," the man in the side-car dismissed, "I'll nail her on the second try, then we can have some real fun with the other bitches."

Ilea heard the words as if spoken clearly across a quiet field rather in the middle of the din and fury of the battle that raged all around her. The screams of her neighbors and friends as lives were brutally snuffed out added further injury to the torment that she was feeling in that moment. The raiders were ruthlessly efficient at their grim trade and beyond question their goal was the total mass extermination of everyone who lived in her village. They were doomed to die, the weak and helpless along with the innocent and guilty. It was God's judgement on them all, for somehow they must have angered Him and deserved His retribution. That was the only explanation that made any sense to her young mind in the few seconds that she had to consider her fate, with the only consolation left to her being the hope that she would soon be up in Heaven with her father...better far to go quickly than to endure the horrors that even now were transpiring to other villagers, and not only to the women.

She heard the rifle shot ring out and waited for the inevitable impact, having heard from eavesdropping on her elders how the pain would not be instantaneous but take several heartbeats to register, so if the first shot killed her instantly then she would never even know it. Her thoughts ran along on this course for several long moments before the thought occurred to her that she was not yet dead...and that nothing had seemingly happened.

She risked opening her tear-filled eyes and wondered if she were already in Heaven...but instead of her father's loving face, what she saw directly in front of her gaze, only inches from her nose in fact, were a pair of worn black sandals, and feet within those sandals. Risking much she raised the level of her gaze and saw that legs were attached to the feet, and looking up further she saw a form partially obscured by a ragged cloth-like robe that surrounded the rest of the sandaled figure.

"Eh...what's this?" one of her pursuers demanded as they took notice of the stranger, whom Ilea now saw was very tall and had a hood pulled down over the face, obscuring all but the lower half of their features, "Who the hell are you? Shove off now or you're gonna get it!"

The figure did not speak, or move, or give any indication that it had even heard the threat, let alone cared to acknowledge it. Instead the hooded and robed figure seemed to glance down at the tiny form huddled at its feet, and then a voice surprisingly mellow (and obviously female) addressed her in clear words, "Be still," as though giving her either advice or a commandment.

"Eh?" the driver of the motorcycle narrowed his eyes, "What did you say?"

The stranger lifted their hooded visage and spoke again, "Tell your people to cease their hostilities and leave now. Remain and you will die."

"Bloody hell!" the man in the sidecar declared, "It's a woman?"

"A woman that tall?" the driver scoffed, "Must be seven bloody feet tall, Mate! No way is that..."

The hooded figure reached up with a slender hand and pulled the hood away, then allowed the ragged robes to part slightly, revealing a surprisingly womanly figure. She had long white hair and a deeply tanned complexion that was agelessly beautiful, and her eyes were so blue that they would have brought shame to a sapphire. Though unusually tall she was generously well proportioned and had a lean, hardened look about her that suggested the grace of a leopard, though she held herself at ease as though she were perfectly relaxed amid the chaos and torment that swirled all around her.

"Fuck me!" the side-car rifleman declared upon seeing confirmation of his earlier deduction.

"You're not my type," the woman replied, reaching out with her other hand and turning it over, revealing the spent bullet that had failed to find its mark against the child before casually tossing the steel jacketed slug to one side.

"Eh..." the driver of the motorcycle grinned, "Now we can have some real fun, and the punk can watch as we do her..."

Ilea would have sworn that she had never in her life seen anyone move as swiftly as the white haired woman did, nor that she had even moved at all save that she was one moment at her side, and the next she was at the side of the two men, towering over them both like a living mountain.

"No thanks," she declared, "I never date outside my own species."

And then the two men fell to the ground...or rather they hit the ground hard as if flattened by a hammer, their bodies pulverized as bone and muscle was driven into the dirt with such force that both were partially buried. The woman let the useless rags that were her robe fall to one side and turned her attention to the machine with which they had been riding Ilea down like an animal mere moments earlier. With an ease that was frankly unbelievable she picked the motorcycle/sidecar up and tossed it to one side, then turned to regard the rest of the raiding party as the commotion died to near nothing, all attention being drawn in her direction.

"My name," the woman declared in a tone that carried easily over the silence of the half-destroyed village, "Is Wanda Kenshiro. This place is now under my protection...leave now or perish."

No one spoke or acted for several long minutes, but then one of the raiders called out, "Kenshiro? But that's only a legend!"

"The legend is true," the woman replied, then waited stoically for the raiding party to acknowledge her statement.

"But Kenshiro is dead!" another raider called out, "And his line is extinct!"

"Kenshiro is not dead," the woman insisted, "Nor is his line ended, for I am his niece and heir. Leave now, I have no wish for further bloodshed."

"His niece?" a gruff sounding voice scoffed, "You look big enough to be a Kenshiro, but not big enough to step into those shoes."

The raiders parted as a hulking figure strode into view, looking like a living tank on two legs and easily dwarfing the woman in size, a scarred and angry looking giant who carried a club in one hand and a huge military-style rifle in the other.

"You are their leader?" the silver haired woman asked, clearly not intimidated by the sight of the giant.

The giant grunted, then said, "Little girl...start begging now 'cause it'll hurt a lot worse if you piss me off any further."

"My words exactly," the woman replied, "I will ask you one more time to leave. These people are not for you...leave as you are in peace, or suffer."

"You making threats at me?" the giant guffawed, then savagely drew back his hand and struck out at the woman.

She did not even seem to move so much as a muscle, but the giant's arm came loose at the wrist and landed with a meaty "THUNK" on the ground beside her, still gripping the weapon that he had meant to use to club her senseless. It took a moment before he registered his loss, and then he howled in pain and fell back, clutching his stump of a wrist to his chest as though to staunch the bleeding.

"Get her!" the giant bellowed as he staggered away, his shock giving way to a fierce desire for retribution.

Several raiders charged forward, those with fewer brains than brawn and lacking much sense for self-preservation. The woman seemed to ignore them as the men staggered in their efforts to attack her, then backed away, their bodies convulsing as though they had struck an invisible barrier. One clutched at his head and screamed, and then said head began to expand in size, swelling up like an over-ripe melon.

"You waste their lives in vain," the woman declared with as much calm as if speaking on a completely neutral subject, "End this now or perish."

"Fuck you!" the giant declared and pointed the business end of his huge gun-like weapon at her face...only to have the weapon fall apart in his hand as though sliced into sections. He had only a moment to stare stupidly at the useless bit in his massive hand before crying out, "WHO ARE YOU?"

"Wanda Kenshiro," she replied, assuming a fighting crouch as she balled her fists and took a stance, "Fist of the Northstar."

Those were the last words the giant ever heard spoken before he was hammered by a series of blows so powerful and swift that they could well have been delivered by Heaven's judgement. The quivering mound of flesh that was left of him took a long time to die, and was not recognizably human. So horrifying was this sight that several of his men lost their lunch while the surviving villagers averted their eyes and sought to drown out the pitiable gurgling noises it uttered.

But Wanda Kenshiro was not done delivering her judgement, and very slowly she drew a long, deep breath before flexing her arms and crying out with a fierce sound that caused ears to split and heads to ring like cymbals. A moment later the ground all around her began to shake and tremble as hairs stood on end all around her and people felt the chill of ice sweep down their nervous systems. All at once the woman was surrounded by an aura of such intensity that it was as though she were glowing from within, and her eyes went from blue sapphire to utter white as the forces built within her, growing so intense that it seemed as if the Earth itself shuddered in dread of her gathering fury.

All at once she raised her hands, then brought them down again, unleashing her might upon the festering remains of the Raider chieftain, and for a moment the ground erupted in a burst of fire and thunder. A moment later the flash of energy cleared away to reveal a smoldering crater in its wake. No trace remained of the dead chieftain, and even his own men considered that a mercy.

The woman calmly lowered her hands and turned her milky-white eyes to survey the remaining Raiders, and not a sound escaped her lips though those eyes told a story for all that promised Hell itself for anyone foolish enough to face her.

"Anyone else?"

Those softly spoken words on her part broke the tension of the moment, and that was all it took to send the Raiders scurrying in all directions, some running for their lives with twice the urgency of Ilea when it had been her turn to be the one hunted by Raiders.

"I didn't think so," Wanda replied at last as the village fell into silence, all save for a few random fires that were being hastily extinguished by the surviving townsmen.

"First of the North Star," Ilea heard somebody murmur in tones of awe, reverence and even worship, followed by echoing words of, "Fist of the North Star," and "Fist of the North Star..." as if chanting a psalm about some long-ago legend.

"How can it be?" one woman asked, "She looks so young..."

"Young?" scoffed another villager, "She looks as tall as a small mountain!"

"Can't be much older than my daughter," a third remarked, "But to have mastered the art and have such power, and at such a young age..."

"Kenshiro's niece," yet another man observed, "He must have taught her before he perished..."

"But who was her father?" another woman wanted to know, "And what's she doing here in our village?"

"Silence, Woman!" her husband spoke harshly, "You want to look a gift from God in the face? Just be glad she came when she did or we'd all be dead as the grain in our silos."

Ilea barely acknowledged these last few comments, for at that moment the silver-  
haired giant had turned to regard her with eyes that slowly faded from their glowing intensity to revert to their normal sapphire. Those eyes focused upon her, and then the giantess knelt down, reaching out with one callused hand to touch Ilea, who did her best not to flinch away in terror. Something about this woman did not exactly cause her to experience fear, but after witnessing what she was capable of, it was difficult not to feel a sense of incredible awe just being in her presence.

"Remain still," the woman instructed as she placed her hand over Idea's tiny forehead and for a moment nothing happened...but then a warmth flooded into the small girl and she felt the pain of her wounds begin to vanish. In another moment the warmth faded away itself, leaving a sense of wellness and peace in her wake. Ilea looked up in amazement at the face of the woman, who seemed herself to be glowing with radiant health, as though surrounded by a golden halo.

"Thank you," Ilea spoke at last, and wondered if her savior was a servant of Heaven come to Earth to protect the righteous and punish the guilty.

"You are welcome," the silver haired giantess straightened out then looked around at the scenes of carnage yet remaining. She did not seem to acknowledge the many faces turned towards her with fear or reverence in their expressions, but the bodies of the deceased did seem to hold a grim fascination. Her sigh could be heard all across the village square, for it carried with it the longing and regrets of an entire generation.

Then at last someone worked up the courage to approach the woman and say, "No...it is we who thank you...for saving us. Ask anything you would of us, we owe you our lives..."

"You owe me little," the silver haired Wanda Kenshiro replied, "I would have come and acted sooner had I known these rogues were in the area. For my late arrival, and those who perished because of it, I owe you my apology. I ask nothing more from you than food and a night's lodgings, then I will be on my way again come the morning.""

"Surely not!" the village elder declared, "Stay with us as long as you will, we would honor you with what little we have..."

"I cannot remain," Wanda replied, "I am on a quest that calls me forward, do not ask again for I will not be delayed in my mission."

"A quest," an old woman of their village said in surprise, "That fits the nature of a hero. God does not bestow a power such as yours without intending to serve a greater purpose..."

"I know little of that," Wanda replied, "I only know what I must do, and that is why I will continue on my journey."

"But what of us?" someone called out in terror, "If you leave, then who will protect us from those Raiders should they choose to return?"

"Tell them that I will return and visit them should I learn that one soul has been harmed of your number," Wanda replied, "By any means or agency. If one of you should die, then they all will die. The Fist of the North Star never goes back on a promise."

One woman staggered forward, being helped along by a younger girl, who hardly seemed any less worse for wear. Ilea turned to see her mother and older sister approaching and felt relief upon discovering that the two of them were still alive, and since she no longer felt pain in her ankle she wasted little time scrambling to her feet and rushing forward to embrace them. The three of them collapsed to their knees hugging one another with all the strength that they could manage while Wanda looked on with a strangely wistful expression, as if seeing another young girl being held closely in the arms of her mother.

"The simple life is all we know," the village elder spoke to her in the silence, "We are not strong, like you...we hurt and bleed for the Earth, which is dying, and do whatever we can to scrape together a meager living. It is not much of an existence, but it is life for us, and you have given this back to us. Please take what comfort you may in knowing what you have accomplished."

"I am only one among many," Wanda spoke aloud, "But I am humbled by your kindness. It is my quest to return life to this world, to make right what was despoiled and to give hope to the children of tomorrow. It was the wish of my uncle and my father, and now their cause belongs to me. My hands can kill or heal, but they are only the tools of my will...it is the spirit of hope itself that gives me strength to continue. I will continue my journey in the knowledge that there is still the promise of tomorrow in even one innocent smile that greets me. Such treasures should be nurtured if the soil of this world is ever to bear green fruit, or to yield a nectar of such sweetness as once abounded in our world. For that alone I thank you."

The village elder was about to say more when he paused to sniff the air, and then he turned his gaze towards the horizon and said, "There is a storm approaching..."

"I know," Wanda replied, also turning to gaze in the same direction, "I have felt it gather strength for the past hour. It is the reason why I delayed a critical time before sensing your danger."

"You can feel that which has yet to occur?" the Elder raised an eyebrow.

"Sometimes," Wanda replied, "But of late the future has seemed more...clouded than usual..."

"There is...something about this storm that troubles me," the Elder continued.

"It is not a storm of nature," Wanda said in the same level voice, "Nor are they clouds of acid rain that I see gathering in the distance. This storm is different from others somehow...and it has an evil cast that I do not like..."

"Do you mean that there is danger?" the Elder asked in dismay.

"There is always danger in my path," Wanda remarked in an off-handed manner, "But this storm is not a phenomenon of air, like others...this storm...is one of Time...and I fear it is seeking to engulf us...

The Elder said nothing in response to that, but he acknowledged in his own way that the approaching storm could only be the harbinger of something beyond the grasp of mere mortals, and as he churned this over he shuddered without fully knowing the reason, that their world and everyone who was on it were about to face the ultimate challenge, a test that only the woman at his side could endure should Wanda Kenshiro prove to be worthy of the trials that were about to claim her...

Realities Cubed

Chapter One.

Tempus Fugitive

(Featuring Characters and Concepts created by Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimura and Rumiko Takahashi)

Continuum #60429318

The alarm went off in Carmine's coffin, causing her to fumble around in the dark looking for the "Snooze button," only to learn to her dismay that someone (most probably her mother) had disconnected the switch that activated that function. In disgust she crushed the clock in her bare hand to silence it, then lay back on her velvet padding to give herself the extra five minutes of rest she so desperately needed.

Some young girls her age often insisted that they were not "Morning people," but in Carmine's case this was literally so. She hated to get up with the dawn about the same way that some people might hate being stuck under a hot lamp or dumped into a tub of ice water. Her blood fairly coagulated at the thought of having to get up, for the Night was her true time to exult in glory. Unfortunately she was beginning a new school today and her stupid parents had gone and enrolled her in day classes, meaning some sacrifices were mandated by filial duty.

Carmine also hated filial duty about the same way most girls would hate shaving their legs with sandpaper. She loved her mother and father very much, but they were also the source of an infinite wealth of endless exasperation.

Seeing nothing better to be done for it, Carmine Hitomabori pushed open the lid to her coffin and drew a breath, savoring the stale air of the basement. She rubbed the lingering sleep from her eyes and began to rise, yawning slightly as she set aside the plush velvety toy bat that she had been clutching to herself for comfort.

"Good morning to you, Mistress Carmine," a cheerful voice greeted her, and Carmine turned to see Yuki, the faithful family retainer, greeting her in her usual polite manner.

"Hi Yuki," Carmine yawned again, then began climbing out of bed to set one bare foot upon the floor. She performed a few cursory stretching exercises then said, "Is it just me or does it feel a little chilly in here this morning?"

"Oh?" Yuki sounded genuinely surprised, to all appearances a young Chinese girl of no more than ten years of age, but in reality MUCH, MUCH older than she looked, and a bit oblivious to some things that would be noticeable to someone truly human, "I thought it felt too warm in here, so I adjusted the temperature a little..."

Carmine rolled her eyes at this and said, "I wish you'd try remembering sometime that I like it warm...like, say, thirty degrees Celsius. I know that feels like boiling to you, but some of us here are at least seven-eighths human."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mistress," the Ice Elemental replied, "I'll try and remember that next time."

Carmine decided to let the point drop and instead concentrated on the rumbling in her tummy, "I'm starved...when will breakfast be ready?"

"As soon as Mistress Camilla gets done preparing it," Yuki paused before allowing a note of distaste to enter her voice, "And as soon as THAT WHOR-  
uh...your mother...rouses her lazy carcass out of bed and stops tormenting your father, my Master."

Carmine smiled, genuinely liking Yuki, who for all her non-humaness had a wry sense of humor that matched her own quirky sense of the bizarre that was her lifestyle.

"You don't have to mince words with me," Carmine rolled her eyes, "I won't even pretend I know what goes on in my Mother's head. At least Dad can usually keep her in line..."

"Hah," it was Yuki's turn to roll her eyes, clearly voicing her doubts on that subject.

Carmine saw no point in debating the issue so instead headed off to find the hot-tub, figuring she might as well get herself ready for school before her mother woke up and hogged all of the hot water. Yuki helped her select a dress and did her hair while she got herself ready then accompanied her young Mistress to the dining room, where her other Mistress was presently loading down the table with enough food to feed a starving horde of zombies.

"Good morning, Darling," Camilla greeted her step-daughter cheerfully, "I trust you slept well and are ready to begin a brand new day in your new school?"

Carmine eyed the school uniform that she was wearing, hating it at once as she much preferred to wear Chinese Silk dresses, a trait she shared in common with her mother, Hitomabori Inaho. Rather than voice her opinions aloud, though, she grumbled words to the effect of, "At least Efreet's going there with me. That means I'll have one familiar face beside me at roll call..."

"I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends once the other children get to know you," Camilla reassured her.

"Oh right," Carmine scoffed, "Like I'm gonna turn into Miss Popularity all of a sudden. Forget it, most kids get weirded out when they spend much time around me, which is why I didn't have a boy friend in Middle School. They all run away when they think I'm gonna bite them..." Carmine felt her pronounced canines with the tip of her tongue then sighed, "...And all because Dad wouldn't let me get them capped so they wouldn't stand out so much..."

"Just don't open your mouth too wide and I'm sure no one will notice," Camilla suggested, "Look at me...I've gotten along just fine the last four hundred years without drawing too much attention to myself, and I've had plenty of flings in my time, though none of them have ever come close to matching your father..." her face took a look of pure ecstasy, as if reflecting on memories that were better left censored.

"It's all that bad press that you get in the movies," Yuki offered by way of explanation, "People have strange ideas of what people on the Dark Half are really like, and we're nothing like what they show the mortals. Take your father, the Master, he's certainly a great big Teddy Bear when you get to know him, and he'd never even think of cheating on either your mother or Mistress Camilla."

"That's because he knows we'd stake him in no time flat," Camilla replied without losing her smile in the slightest, "Of course we'd bring him back afterward, but he knows that it isn't worth making an Ash of himself by pulling anything behind us."

Carmine said nothing to this as she ate her share of the breakfast, periodically glancing at one of the innumerable wall-clocks that lined their house to make sure she had time enough to meet up with Efreet before her parents got up and started something. Breakfast was excellent (as it always was when Camilla did the cooking, unlike with her Mother, who could not boil water without courting disaster), though Carmine detected the flavor of blood mixed in with the syrup (she did not intend to ask what kind of blood, it was never prudent to ask such intimate details about where her step-mother obtained it). She had almost managed to finish off her waffles when she heard her mother stumbling into the kitchen scratching her red hair and stumbling along in fluffy bunny slippers. A few moments later her father came in looking surprisingly bright and cheerful.

"Good morning, Pumpkin," he addressed her with his usual pet name, "All ready to begin a brand new school day?"

"Oh please, Daddy," Carmine replied gruffly, "I'm sixteen now, I'm old enough that I can manage for myself, and besides...it's just another dumb school like the ones I attended in Hong Kong..."

"Don't talk back to your father, Kiddo," her mother sleepily chided, looking literally like Death warmed over, though she was the only full-blooded human in the kitchen, even if she looked barely older than Carmine herself, being gifted with eternal youth and beauty, "Besides, you need to learn to fit in better now that we're living in Japan and not China."

"Ease up on her, Inaho," her father urged his wife, "Remember what you were like at her age," and then promptly he ducked before he could get a plate full of waffles hurled into his face, smiling all the while as if teasing her were his greatest joy in life.

"What do you mean when I was her age?" her mother growled, now fully awake and entirely too sober for her own liking, "Are you calling me a withered old Bat, are you?!"

"Of course not," her husband replied, "I'd never call you a bat, and you certainly don't look withered to me..."

"True," Camilla voiced her opinion with a stroking of her chin, "But I've always thought she was just a little butterball, barely even worthy of a snack, which is why I've tried putting some meat on her bones over the last seventy or so years..."

"So now you're calling me fat, is that it?" raged Inaho, now close to tears, "That's it, you two just want to fatten me up like a big blood-filled balloon so you can feast on me to your heart's content..."

"What an interesting suggestion," Camilla sounded genuinely intrigued, "Should we try that, Mosquiton, darling? I'll bet she tastes like a butterball if we both sip her together..."

"Hah, try it and you'll get a Stake for your breakfast!" Inaho raged, producing same from under her nightshirt.

Carmine heard the exasperated sigh coming from Hono, their other faithful family retainer, who was commiserating with Yuki from their end at the table, "They're at it again."

"No kidding," Yuki sighed, "And it's not even seven in the morning..."

"Now, Mosquiton," Camilla chided, "Inaho...not in front of your daughter. This is her big days and you two shouldn't spoil it for her..."

"Speak for yourself," Inaho fumed as she huffed back into her chair, the stake vanishing as mysteriously as it had appeared in her hand, "Bad enough you two blood suckers kept me up all night when you know I have an important business meeting to attend, but now you've gone and got me all worked up for nothing!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say it was all for nothing," Camilla eased up behind Inaho's chair and began to give her co-wife an affectionate shoulder-rub to help ease up her tensions, "And after Carmine is away at class I'm sure Mosquiton and I will have time enough to get you prepared for your meeting..."

"Well..." Inaho began to ease up as she obviously enjoyed the touch of the other woman caressing her shoulders, "Maybe we will have time for a quickie...provided Mosqui can get it up after that workout we gave him...

"What?" Carmine's father looked momentarily dismayed, "Hey...we did it four times last night...what do you think I'm made of?"

"That's what we're hoping to find out," Camilla grinned in a lascivious manner.

Carmine rolled her eyes and murmured softly to herself, "I don't wanna know, I don't wanna know...please, God, don't let them ever tell me..."

The sound of a doorbell came to her rescue, and Carmine jumped out of her chair before either Yumi or Hono could move to answer the summons. Carmine grabbed her book bag and slipped into her shoes before yanking open the door, to be greeted by her best friend, Mitsuhara Efreet, who barely had time enough to say, "Hey, you're up on time for..."

"Not now!" Carmine barked as she grabbed Efreet by the arm and pulled her along as she slammed the door behind her, "Let's just get going!"

Behind them the two Elementals, Hono and Yuki, exchanged looks together before the male Fire Elemental said, "She's growing up to be more and more like the Mistress every day."

"I know," Yuki replied, "And it scares me too sometimes...why can't she be more like our Master?"

The sound of Mosquiton protesting as he was grabbed by two sets of feminine hands and hauled towards the stairway greeted their ears as the two loyal family retainers exchanged another troubled look, then Hono spoke aloud again, "On the other hand...maybe that's a good thing after all."

Yuki nodded slowly and with evident reluctance...

"What's the deal?' Efreet wanted to know, "Why were you in such a hurry to leave home?"

"Let's just say I'm not in the mood to watch the Transylvanian Soap Opera begin its usual slide into a kinky porn movie," Carmine replied over the sound of wind whipping over their bodies.

"I don't know," Efreet mused, "I think it's kind of nice that your folks get along so well after seventy years of marriage. That's longer than some humans have been alive, you know..."

"Don't remind me," Carmine glanced down at the sight of the district of Nerima, which was currently passing half a mile down below them as the pair floated on the winds, levitating rather than taking the slower path of walking to their classes, "I just hope when I get to be their ages I can keep more of my dignity. It's not like it is between your parents..."

"Well," Efreet mused, "I suppose that's true. My parents almost never fight, though I hear enough of it going on when Aunt Nanami gets together with Afura and Shayla. Now those guys can shoot real sparks when they get going."

"True enough," Carmine mused, "Well...I just hope this place they've assigned us to can handle a couple of eligible young girls with odd histories. I wouldn't want things to end up like they did at our last school..."

"You mean the one where you were being chased all the time by that Devil Hunter?" Efreet asked her, "What was her name again...Mano something?"

"Akiko," Carmine corrected, "Supposedly the One Hundredth and Ninth generation Devil Hunter of the Mano family, though why the duce she kept picking on me I'll never understand. I'm only one eighth Vampire, even if I'm nobility stretching back to the first Nosferatu."

"And you hardly ever bite people," Efreet complained, "I don't know why she kept acting like you were evil or something. She seemed to think I was some kind of a Death Machine, just because I accidentally blew some stuff up in our fighting..."

"Like the Gym and the Chem Lab?" Carmine sniffed, then pointed downward, "Is that the place we're looking for?"

"Sure is," Efreet responded with her sharper vision, "Furinkan High School...sure looks impressive after the rebuilding efforts they're supposed to have done. I hear they have modern facilities and have improved their academic rating."

"Let's hope so," Carmine replied as the two of them descended from cloud level, hoping to choose an obscure place near the roof so that their arrival would not draw undo attention (some people their ages tended to act funny about a pair of teenagers flying without the need of an airplane).

"Well, here we are," Efreet mused as her feet alighted on the insulated tiles that made up the rooftop of the main building, "Think we're gonna meet any cute boys on our first day?"

"Who knows," Carmine shrugged, "But we're early for once, so I guess we'd better check out our home rooms..."

"Two floors down and to your right," a voice called out, surprising the pair as they had not seen anyone else on the roof when they landed. From around behind a corner of the stair landing a beautiful girl with cobalt blue hair smiled at them in a sultry manner, wearing a school uniform but styling her hair in a way that did not look regulation.

"Who...?" Carmine started to gasp.

"You're the new girls," the stranger spoke first, "You've been expected. My name is Kenzan Tarot, though you can call me Tarot-chan for short. And you are...?"

"Mitsuhara Efreet," replied Carmine's levitating companion.

"Hitomabori Carmine," she reluctantly answered.

"I knew it," the stranger snapped her fingers, "The Empress and the High Priestess..."

"High Priestess?' Efreet blinked her eyes, "Oh no...you have me mistaken for someone else. I'm a Demon-God, just like my mother."

"Whatever," Tarot waved the point aside, "You'll fit in here just grandly, provided you survive the first day's initiation ritual."

"Initiation ritual?" Carmine asked in confusion.

The sound of an explosion rocked the air, surprising Carmine and Efreet but failing to do so with their new acquaintance, who cheerfully noted, "Ah, it just started. Have a look, ladies, we've got the balcony seat for the latest altercation between titans."

The blue haired girl lead the way to the rim of the roof and peered over the railing, compelling Efreet and Carmine to do likewise, the former levitating above the rim to get a more complete view of what looked to be a major rumble. There was a boy in school uniform holding what looked like an enormous spatula squaring off against a much larger boy, who was himself in the process of attempting to pound him.

"Stand still, you little freak!" the larger boy growled, "Take it like a Man...or whatever you are these days!"

"Yeah, like that'll happen," the other boy called back as he skillfully avoided the powerful swings of the other boy, bringing his spatula into play to fend off blows that looked as though they could shatter bones if they connected, "Why don't you get over yourself and go buy a clue, Minos? No way are you gonna get anywhere making me late for classes."

"I'll give you a lot more to think about than your stupid classes!" the larger boy roared, and then with a motion of both hands he unleashed a power-blast that swept through the air from the extended palms of his hands to strike the far wall near the gates and crash through without stopping. As he did this, though, he was vulnerable, and the other boy (who had avoided said blast) got inside his guard and used the handle of his weapon to trip the enraged giant.

"Give it up, Minos," the other boy taunted as the giant flipped onto his back and then rolled to his feet in an instant, "You know you can't beat me, and you're only gonna look silly for trying."

"You little Sex-changing Punk!" Minos roared, "You can't dodge me forever, and this time I'm gonna nail you for trying to put the moves on my little sister!"

The giant moved with incredible speed, but just as incredibly the other boy moved out of the way, seemingly without effort. Carmine was no slouch to fights and martial artists, but she recognized that there was something different about this altercation and the skills reflected in the two antagonists. Neither one was giving ground, but the speed of their moves was clearly superhuman.

"I keep telling you, Moron," the smaller boy taunted, "Belldandy's my friend, but there's nothing else between us. She's a great girl and all, but you don't have to be so damned overprotective..."

"With you in the picture?" the larger boy roared, "Let me mess that pretty face of yours up some, then we'll see how good you are with the ladies!"

"Geez," Efreet commented, "What's their problem, too much red meat?"

"Oh, those two are childhood friends who've recently had a falling out over a woman," Tarot replied, "This is just one of their daily brawls, they're fairly routine and mostly harmless..."

"Harmless?" Carmine reacted.

"Well, except for the damage they do to the real estate," Tarot inclined her head with a grin and said, "What say we go down there and get some front-row seats? I'm sure Tachi will be willing to sell them to you for a reasonable discount."

As she said this girl produced an old-style straw broom from seeming no where, then leaped over the side of the building and straddled the broom between her legs. Rather than fall, though, it hovered in the air and easily supported her.

"Hey...neat trick," Efreet complimented.

"Comes with the territory," the girl winked at them and added, "I am a Witch, you know...a good one, so don't let the absence of a pointy hat fool you. I know the both of you can fly, so why don't you join me?"

Carmine and Efreet exchanged glances then decided to play along, and soon all three girls were descending together, landing in an open space not too far removed from the fighting. Another boy was holding the ground there, a handsome youth with a dashing, debonair manner and no great look of concern in his expression as he watched the fight continue from the sidelines.

"Hey Tachi," Tarot cheerfully called out, "Here are the new girls, just like I predicted."

"Charmed," Tachi replied without turning around, keeping his focus leveled on the fighting.

"They look like they're in pretty good form today," Tarot also seemed to take an interest in the fight, "What are the odds you're given?"

"What odds?" Tachi snorted, "Ryo's going to take Minos in a walk, no question about it."

As he said this the larger boy roared his fury and made several sweeping punches that kicked up a breeze in the air, though his antagonist somehow managed to avoid even being caught in the backwash. The other boy (a surprisingly handsome youth) was clearly encouraging the other boy's efforts, but at last he said in grim resolve, "Look man...I've taken it easy on you 'cause we used to be friends and you're Bell-chan's older brother, but I've about taken all the guff from you that I can stand, so I'm ending it now, you hear?"

"It won't end except in blood, Saotome!"

"Have it your way," the other boy replied, and then all at once he stopped moving backward and threw a punch at the other boy, forcing Minos to back off, too late in recognizing the maneuver.

"HIRYU SHOTEN HA!" the smaller boy cried out, and with that a vortex swirled up around them and trapped the larger boy in its embrace, propelling him skyward as he spun like a top, crying out in dismay as he arched out over the canvas.

"Hah!" the remaining boy said in triumph, "Sucker fell for it like he always does..."

Tachi moved forward, compelling the others to do likewise, ignoring the lingering traces of the wind as the yard very slowly began to return to normal.

"Not too shabby," Tachi complimented, "But I think you drew it out a bit near the end there."

"Just trying to give you time to place more bets" the other boy replied as he turned to take notice of Tachi, then of the two other girls standing besides Tarot, acknowledging them with a nod of his head and giving Carmine the first really good look at him from a closer perspective.

Carmine gasped as the world seemed to zero out all around her, for the boy was unquestionably the most handsome young man whom she had ever before beheld, almost frighteningly beautiful in a way that could only be called Bishonen. He had his dark auburn colored hair done back in a warrior's braid, and his eyes were a startling shade of blue peering out from the haunted depths of his heavy forebrow. He had a hard, compact frame that was undoubtedly lean and well-  
muscled to judge from the ease with which he had moved during the fighting, and there was a feeling of raw, almost animal intensity about him...in a word he took her breath away (which was not that easy to do with someone who was one eighth Vampire).

"What bets?" the boy named Tachi asked innocently, "As if anyone in their right mind would bet against you, Ryo-kun."

"Yeah, right," the handsome boy sniffed, "Look, I gotta take off, nice meeting you and all that..."

Carmine was not so far gone into a befuddled stupor that she failed to take note of the rather significant fact that the boy in front of her was about to leave, which alarmed her as she did not know when she might see him again, so she called out a hasty, "Wait, don't go!"

"Sorry," the boy waved a hand back at them and prepared to leap, "Gotta get to class before they Bell me..."

He hardly had time to finish the sentence when a ruby beam shot out and missed his feet by several inches, causing the boy to stumble and turn about in a swift recovery.

"She asked you not to leave," Efreet said, pointing at the ground with the peculiar Key-shaped staff that she had been carrying across her backside, the end of which was smoldering with recently discharged plasma.

"Whoah..." Tachi remarked, taking notice of the dark haired Demon-Goddess for the first time ever, as did the boy named Ryo, who eyed the dangerous-looking staff as though it were the muzzle of a cannon.

"What are you doing?" Carmine reacted, turning to her friend and saying, "Put that thing away now!"

"Huh?" Efreet blinked her eyes in obvious conclusion, "But I was only trying to help..."

"By getting us both kicked off school grounds on our first day?" Carmine responded before hastily turning back to the boy and saying, "I'm sorry...my friend gets a little enthusiastic sometimes. She's harmless...well...mostly..."

"Right," the boy named Ryo stood more at ease as Efreet slung her staff back over her back in a manner very much like the way he did the same thing with the spatula he carried, "On second thought...I've got a moment. Maybe I can walk you guys to class?"

"That sounds...reasonably diplomatic," Tachi noted, not taking his eyes away from Efreet, who become altogether conscious of the way the brown haired boy was studying her with a peculiar interest.

"Well, well," Tarot remarked with obvious amusement, "Looks like you've made a convert already. I have to warn you, though, Tachi's fast with the ladies..."

"Really?" Efreet seemed genuinely interested, "I'm pretty fast too. Can you fly?"

"Ah...well..." the boy stumbled slightly, earning an amazed look from the blue haired Tarot.

"Ah...excuse me," Carmine's face flushed red with the blood she had just consumed at breakfast, "Where are my manners? My name is Hitomabori Carmine...but you can call me Carmine...if you like, that is..."

"Charmed," the handsome boy replied, "They call me Ryo...short for Saotome Ryoma. I like the shorter name...it kinda give me certain...flexibility that I find useful..."

"Ahem," Tachi seemed to recover from wherever it was that his mind had temporarily gone while gazing deep into the eyes of a certain Demon Goddess, "I don't think you want to tell her everything...at least not before the first date...and as you mentioned before, we do have classes to attend."

"Saotome Ryoma," Carmine repeated aloud with a dreamy expression, "Ryo-chan..."

"Hey!" Tarot suddenly reacted, interposing herself alongside Ryoma, "Hands off, girlfriend, I saw him first!"

"Ah...?" Ryo reacted with a troubled expression.

"Oh yeah?" Carmine rose to the challenge, "I don't suppose you put a label on him anywhere...eh, girlfriend?"

"Uh-oh," Tachi murmured, as if well acquainted with the sounds of gathering trouble.

"I may not have ownership papers," Tarot gave Carmine a clear and unmistakable look of warning, "But I know things about Ryo-chan here that you don't, and I've been with him longer."

"That makes you old news in my book," Carmine responded, "And besides, we just met. He hasn't even given me his measurements-AH-I mean his phone number-  
GAH-I mean...the number of our homeroom!"

"You feeling okay?" Efreet asked with some concern, "The sun's not too bright out today? You know how vulnerable you are to sunstroke..."

"Er...ah...look, ah...guys?" Ryo asked with growing reluctance, "This really isn't the best time for..."

"DUCK!" Tachi suddenly cried out.

It was totally amazing to Carmine, who thought herself well beyond the point of amazement. No sooner was the warning called out by the one boy but then the boy she was talking to went into action, grabbing both her and the Witch and vaulting with the both of them in his powerful arms...one second before the space they vacated was struck by a large oaken tree.

"You won't get away with this, Saotome!" cried a soggy wet (and much enraged) Tarot, who had been the one to hurl said tree at the other boy's backside.

"Geez," Ryo spun about the minute his feet touched ground and he was able to release his hold on his female companions, "What the heck's his problem? He usually takes a hint after I send him into the canal..."

"Guess he's being a bit more persistent today than usual," Tarot observed, "Though his timing stinks, like always."

"Look, man," Ryo declared, "We don't have time to fool around! We're gonna be late to class and you'll get another demerit..."

"It's worth it to wipe that smug look off your face, you Pervert!" Minos roared, "Bad enough you flirt with my sister, but now you're taking advantage of these other girls! You don't deserve to call yourself a man, let alone a martial artist, you WOMAN! Stop trying to be what you're not and face me like the coward that you are!"

"You know," Tachi mused, "There is a logical inconsistency in that statement..."

"Later," Ryo urged as he put some distance between himself, Carmine and Tarot, "Looks like I'm gonna have to put you down for real this time, Taro. And I thought you had more sense than to pick fights before class..."

"Want me to deal with him?" Efreet asked, reaching for her Key-staff.

"No!" Carmine hastily waved a hand in negation, "We need to talk the guy down, not blow a hole right through him!"

"And besides...he used to be my friend," Ryo murmured as he assumed a fighting posture, "Baka or no, that means a lot to me. I'm gonna take him down, but I'll try not to hurt him."

"Hah, like I'm gonna fall for your tricks twice!" Minos scoffed as he prepared to rush him.

Carmine had taken more of Testosterone than seemed appropriate under the occasion and decided to step in and make a little demonstration of her own powers, just so nobody here mistook her for window dressing. The two boys were obviously expert martial artists and they could move like lightning, but they were still both only human, while she was a Vampyr, a hybrid combining the best of both of her parents.

"Why don't you..." she began to say, then accelerated herself to twenty times normal speed and planted the flat of her palm slightly below the solar plexus of the larger boy, doubling him over, pausing long enough to add "Cool off, you big bully!"

Both Tachi and Ryo stared in amazement as the redheaded girl in school uniform effortlessly lifted Taro Minos with one hand, then gave him a heave that sent the boy sprawling on the pavement some twenty meters away. It had happened in the blink of an eyelash with the slender girl easily proving herself the victor.

"Whoah," Tarot remarked, "I think I understand now why she also drew the strength card..."

"Er..." Carmine had time to suddenly think twice on the wisdom of her actions, turning an apologetic look Ryo's way, "Sorry about butting in and all, but that guy was being rude..."

"Hey, no problem," Ryo was looking at her with the oddest expression, "How did you do that? That was amazing!"

"Really?" Carmine asked timidly, "You don't think...ah...it was a little too...macho?"

"You expect me to answer that?" Ryo chuckled as if enjoying a private jest, and Carmine decided she liked the way he sounded when he laughed. It came out as easy going and good natured as the boy himself appeared to be, an altogether attractive feature in her rather biased opinion.

A rumbling in the clouds, however, brought the boy's laughter to an abrupt halt as he eyed the skies with a nervous expression.

"Oh no," he groaned, "Not now..."

"Ah..." Tachi looked cautiously at Ryo and said, "Better get yourself indoors, old buddy...wouldn't want the girls to get their hair wet either."

"Oh, I don't mind," Efreet remarked, "I'm water proofed against such an inconvenience."

"Really?" Tachi turned back to her with obvious interest, "What else are you good at?"

"Blowing holes in stuff," Efreet looked sheepishly at the ground, "I try not to...but sometimes I kind of get carried away, know what I mean?"

"I think I do," Tachi turned back to Ryo and said, "You gonna stand there and get rained on?"

"Yes," Tarot cooed in an insinuating manner, "Why don't let our new classmate get a good look at the other side of you, Ryo-chan...I'm sure she deserves to know as much as the rest of us do about the Saotome trademark."

"Huh?" Carmine wondered what they were going on about, but before she could further voice the question something very strange began to happen all around them. The sky continued to darken, but now it seemed as if the air around them was also becoming clouded, as if a fog bank were closing in from out of seeming no where.

"What the...?" Ryo turned a questioning look at Tachi, who shared that look with matching confusion.

"Don't look at me," the other boy shrugged, "Weird weather happenings are usually your department."

One other took notice of their plight and raised himself onto his elbows, growling a belligerent, "Saotome...you won't escape me...that way..."

Minos forced himself to his feet and staggered forward, even as the fog began to close in around six anxious teenagers, each of whom had cause in their own way to be apprehensive of the growing dark gray morass with its attendant sense of unreality, and second later it faded away, as did the rest of them, leaving only an empty space in their passage...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Cubed Roots of Pi: shadowmane

Yep, I'm back at it again playing hob with reality and the various timelines, exploring the Multiverse and the various possibilities for future offspring that denoted the first two series. If you guys aren't too tired of the ride, stick around and see where we go from here, because I promise you all it will be quite a journey...so grab your D-Hopper and BE There! (Or Be Cubed Square!)

Jim Robert Bader

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works.\ 


	3. Chapter 3

RanCubed02

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Featuring Characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi and Others)

Chapter Two

Guardians of the Nexus

Time Patrol, Central Dispatch Temporal Nexus of Worlds

"Here it is, Squirt," Ranma announced to his recently adopted daughter, Ranko, "Time Patrol Central, where your Mother and I work at keeping the Multiverse safe from all sorts of anomalies and riff-raff trying to muck things up for ordinary people. This is also where you'll receive your training if you make the cut and qualify for the Academy, just like we did."

"Wow!" Ranko exhaled, taking in the sight of the huge complex whose structural outlay was well beyond her previous experience and fully warranted the term "Unearthly." There were numerous levels visible from the main terminal, where they currently were standing, and thousands of people moving about on those levels doing who-knew-what important business, and at the center of it all a massive object that looked something like a high-tech hour glass, while the complex itself seemed to have been built like the hubbed spokes of a wheel around this massive object. Gravity itself seemed to revolve around this incredible technological wonder, suggesting that this was more of a satellite than a part of a world, and Ranko could not even begin to guess what sort of super-science could bring such a thing into existence, let alone make such use of it as to found the Time Agency that was seeking to recruit her services, as they had done for the man she called her father, as well as her "aunt" turned adopted mother.

"It's called the Nexus of Worlds," Nabiki informed her pleasantly, "It's incredibly ancient, created by a long-extinct race that existed on one of the Parallel Earths where history worked a bit differently and a highly advanced civilization managed to discover an early form of Time and Planar travel that helped them to discover this realm on the border of what we call Limbo. The Agency was founded some time ago to make use of this technology for the betterment of the Timesphere. We keep track of the goings on of many millions of worlds and intervene whenever a threat arises to menace the Time Continuum itself. It's where we first detected you and your friends when that pendant became active, and hopefully here is where you will learn to harness your abilities and become a productive member of the Service."

"It's not such a bad life, once you get used to it," Ryoga shrugged his shoulders, "You get to see things few people even dream about and journey to places you can't even imagine..."

"And what's the big deal?" Akari, Ryoga's wife, asked in a teasing voice, "You did that all by yourself for years, Ryo-chan. Of course back then you weren't receiving a pay chit..."

"Will it take me a long time to get to be a full-fledged agent like you, Pop?" Ranko eagerly asked her adopted father.

"That all depends," the big man shrugged, "You've got a lot of raw, natural talent, which comes from good genes and healthy living," he flashed a grin that was pure Saotome, "But it takes more than power and skill to become a Time Agent. We'll put you through the paces and see to it you get the best training anyone could ask for, but it's up to higher powers than me and your Mom to decide if you'll get to wear the star of service."

"Oh, don't be so hard on her, Ranma," Akari urged, "It'll take her time to get used to things, just like it was with us. Look...Ryomi-san's coming to greet us, and I'm sure she's already made the necessary arrangements in advance."

"She should," Nabiki said with a touch of pride in her voice, "I trained that girl to be efficient."

"Yeah," Ranma groused in a half-way teasing manner, "With a whip and a chain no doubt..."

"What was that?" Nabiki eyed her husband sharply.

"Oh...nothing," Ranma grinned innocently, an effect as wasted on him as if he had been wearing antlers.

Ranko just grinned to herself as she listened to the affectionate banter being exchanged among her elders. Since they had just come back from a two-week Honeymoon, during which her adopted Mother and close-parallel-time father had all but locked themselves in a room with a "KEEP OUT ON PAIN OF EXTREME DEATH" sign posted on the door (leaving her to pretty much wander about like a tourist with her "Uncle" Ryoga in some pretty exotic scenery) she had gotten used to the way her father and Aunt Nabiki bantered about the subject of their recent marriage with all the gleeful perkiness of a pair of oversexed adolescents. If anything Ranko felt more like the chaperone than the tag-along, and it was all she could do to keep from making chiding remarks about adults and their "childish" behavior. In point of fact she was delighted having parents who so obviously cared so much about each other.

Besides which, her "Dad" had turned out to be a pretty cool guy to get to know, and her "Mom" was incredibly supportive, offering up all sorts of useful advice on the sideline to help Ranko get in touch with her "feminine" side, even taking in stride the fact that Ranko was just as often a guy when she got too close to any source of cold water.

That was when her Aunt Ryonami cleared her voice and said, "About time you two got back...you have any idea how much business has been piling up in the office?"

"No," Nabiki replied pleasantly, "But I'm sure you'll tell me all about it."

"Like you said," Ranma commented, "You trained her."

Ranko withheld the many questions that kept churning through her mind as she drank in the sights provided by the awesome complex, reserving her curiosity for when their merry little band made their way up to the Central Dispatch offices, where they were greeted by their superiors who seemed to take a special interest in Ranko, her pendant and all that they collectively and individually represented. They weren't altogether rude about it, but neither were they so subtle that Ranko could miss the thrust of their hidden intentions.

Their Project Leader himself was on hand to personally welcome Ranko into their midst, a handsome Gaijin with the rather memorable name of Windsor. He was tall and blonde haired with a rather friendly-if-businesslike manner, and the impression he gave one was that he was in their corner (whether or not this was the case Ranko was a little uncertain) and on the whole he seemed to be equal parts tough and fair minded.

"So you're Saotome's kid," the man greeted her with a Western-style handshake, "Congratulation...or condolences, depending on how you feel about the dubious honor."

"Thank you, sir," Ranko replied as she accepted the handshake, noticing that this fellow of indeterminate age had a pretty firm handshake, "I'll try and fit in as best I'm able."

"For your sake I hope so," the man nodded, turning to Ranma as he added, "Where have you been hiding this one, Saotome, you sly dog? Looks a lot like you at her age."

"Tell me about it," her father said gruffly.

"And you," Inspector Windsor eyed Nabiki in a way that suggested a teacher about to send a naughty student out in the hallway with a bucket of water, "I don't mind that you two put in for two weeks vacation leave while you screwed each others brains out...if anything I would have made it an order had I had any idea what you were planning. About time you made this guy an honest man...not that I'm sure there's much hope for you in that respect."

"I did fax to you a complete report listing all of the details of our investigation, Sir," Nabiki replied without evidencing the slightest hint of offense in either her tone or expression, "I imagine the lab boys have been busy putting the details together..."

"Yeah, and you wouldn't believe some of the theories that they've been tossing around," Windsor rolled his eyes as if beseeching the heavens, "The bad news for you is that Derrick himself has taken an interest in this business and is planning on coming down here for your debriefing. I do hope you've got your affairs in order, because the way I hear it he's concerned about this business between the Pendant and its link to Yggdrasil."

Ranko absently touched the pendant, feeling a certain bond between herself and the time-altering jewel that had caused her so much grief and hardship, yet had given her a new life unlike any that she had ever previously imagined.

"Don't worry, young lady," Windsor reassured as he saw the gesture, "No one's taking it away from you. We've all read about your special affinity for the jewel and what it means for you if you should remove it while in normal timespace. Derrick isn't the sort to want to cause and innocent to needlessly suffer, and he has too much respect for your parents to want to cause them grief. It's just that he also takes his job seriously as the Guardian of all Timespace, and it wouldn't do to exclude him from any consideration on whether or not you get to be a Time Agent."

"Yeah, well he'd better not want my kid to suffer," Ranma rumbled darkly, "Or I'm gonna lodge a formal protest."

"Ranko's welfare has become important to us both," Nabiki added, "She is family in a very real sense, and we have pledged ourselves to look after her come what may. Besides...she's a special case and deserves special merit..."

"Okay, ratchet it down a peg, you two," Windsor urged, "You can take it up with Derrick himself when he gets here, I'm just your lowly supervisor, not the bearer of bad news, which is usually your department, Saotome."

"Chief!" someone called out from one of the consoles that made up the main operating control room, "We got a Code Red flash coming from one of the outer grids! Sector Nine-dash-four, and it looks like a Level Three Time Storm forming around the rim of that immediate sector!"

"Punch it up on the board," Windsor turned around as if immediately forgetting about everything but the job at hand, fixing his gaze up at the holographically created image of what looked like the Milky Way galaxy that had been hanging above their heads the whole time. Ranko swiveled her attention up as a single section was magnified several thousand fold, and she sensed the tensions in the air immediately climb as both of her adopted parents and their companions turned to survey this highlighted sector, which was now being displayed in full relief and incredibly graphic detail.

"A Level Three storm?" Ranko's father murmured, "Isn't that...like...impossible or something? At least without some major build up?"

"Technically yes," Nabiki murmured back, "And for one to just spring up like that...it does not smell good."

"We've got it isolated, sir," one of the technicians called out from their own console, "Can't explain why it just creeped up on us like that without warning. Apparently the storm is outside of normal time-space, but it's touching down in a few odd sectors. We estimate a probability that several key timelines are about to white-line, but as yet we are unable to lock down the cause of this phenomenon. It's not like anything in our experiences..."

"Give me facts and details when they become available," Windsor said with a totally focused expression, "I want to know why this thing cropped up on this, and I want to know it yesterday...and I mean that literally! Look alive People! The Brass is gonna wanna know if they're paying us to do our jobs or sit around and gossip!"

Ranko saw her Aunt Ryonami go to one of the consoles and lean over the shoulder of the technician sitting there. She also saw the tension in the faces of her father, adopted mother and Uncle Ryoga and whispered as softly as she could, "What's going on? Is it a war or something?"

"No," Ryoga replied tensely, "It's much worst than that..."

"Be patient, dear," her Aunt Akari urged, "These people are professionals and they know their job. I've come to respect their professionalism, even if I don't really understand all that much of Ryo-chan's business."

"Not many of us understand all that much about it either, Squirt," Ranma murmured at her side, "But in the twenty-so years that we've been working with this outfit we ain't never seen a Code Red just spring up like this without at least some kind of early warning."

"The nearest equivalent for us is when that pendant of yours first became active," Nabiki noted, "And I'm pretty sure that if it were involved at all in this, then the alarm sensors located all about this complex would have gone off and informed us."

"In other words, you're off the hook this time," Windsor added without turning to look at Ranko before turning to one of the Technicians frantically working at their station, "That is right, isn't it? The energy signature we're reading isn't the same as the pendant?"

"No sir," that Technician replied, "It's totally different from those readings we were picking up for the last two days, but it does seem to be affecting only certain individuals on each of the timelines that we are currently monitoring. The effect so far seems fairly random, but it's causing a displacement effect that is drawing certain individuals out of the normal flow of temporal space, and we estimate that as many as a dozen individuals may well be affected."

"The thing is that these are not the same individuals who were being displaced during the last recorded series of incidents," another Technician spoke up, "But what is extraordinary is that the power reading from a few of these target subjects is well off the scale in terms of ordinary human bio-readings.""

"I'm on that, sir," Ryonami called out, "A couple of Class Five Paranormals, several medium-ranged fighters and a few who must be tag-alongs, but definitely more than a dozen in all. I'd put the total number of affected cases much closer to fifteen or twenty..."

"Class Five Paranormals?" Ranko saw her father's eyebrows twitch.

"Gee, Ranma," Ryoga teased him from the side, "And you only rate a Class Four reading yourself, unless you boost yourself with Shiva..."

"Don't start on me about that, Piggy," Ranma groused.

"This is bad...this is serious, People," Windsor turned around to address them, "I hope you Ladies enjoyed your vacation because play time is over. I need my best field agents on stand-by, and since you've recently volunteered for a change in career status, Miz Saotome, I expect you to be out there keeping this lug from wrecking up half the cosmos, do you read me?"

"Clearly Sir," Nabiki nodded.

"Like crystal," Ranma seconded, taking his recently wed wife by the hand and said, "Guess I should have read the fine-print about that 'Sickness and Health' stuff, huh?"

"How many times have I told you, Ranma-kun," Nabiki smiled back, "You should always let me be the one to worry about the fine print."

"Of course I'm ready, Sir," Ryoga spoke up.

"Good," Windsor noted, "At least somebody on your team knows how to follow an order..."

"Aw, does he have to go already?" Akari complained, "We only just got back and I haven't even had time to check in with the baby sitter...!"

"I'll try and make it worth your while, Hibiki-san," Windsor replied before turning back to restudy the holographic display of a star-field, which was red-  
dotted in certain key locations.

"What about me?" Ranko asked, "Do I get to come too?"

"Out of the question," Windsor replied without turning around, "You still class as a civilian, at least until you complete your training, and we can't afford to having you run loose with that pendant of yours playing hob with our detectors..."

"All do respect and all that," Ranma spoke up, "But how you gonna stop her? You know my kid's got an affinity with time, and that pendant thingie answers to Yggdrasil."

"Not a factor while she's here," Windsor noted, "Our calculations indicate that the pendant will not operate here on the Nexus...but the plus side is that your kid won't be doing any fade-out jobs either. She could take that bloody thing off right now and it won't affect her."

"It won't?" Ranko blinked her eyes, then as if to experiment she started to reach for the pendant.

Nabiki's hand stopped her.

"I'm not prepared to risk it just yet, Sir," Nabiki cautioned, "Calculations and probabilities are all well and good, but we are talking about an artifact that is-effectively-the only thing that currently keeps our adopted daughter stable in time space. I know the rules are different here in the Nexus..."

"Don't worry," Windsor assured them, "We're not going to take any chances with her welfare just yet. We'll only experiment with separating her from that pendant once we have all the appropriate safeguards in place...she's too valuable to lose like that, and not just because Saotome here would probably go on one of his notorious hissy fits if we dropped the ball with his only daughter."

"I...don't think I like the sound of this too much," Ranko admitted frankly, "I ain't no Guinea pig, y'know, and I wanna help out and prove that I can be just like you, Dad."

"Naw, you're better than me," Ranma ran a hand affectionately through the redhead's braided locks, "I know you wanna prove yourself, Kid, but time and training are what you need before you go back out there. Nothing worse than going out half-cocked before you're ready..."

"Excuse me?" Nabiki arched an eyebrow, "Did you just say that, Ranma-kun?"

"Yeah, I did," Ranko saw her father's face screw up in a smile that was mostly part grimace, "Can't believe it neither...I sound just like Pop did before I did that bash with Taro..."

"It's the curse of parenthood, Saotome," Windsor called over his shoulder, "Sooner or later we're doomed to turn out to be just like our parents."

"I should hope not!" Nabiki averred in mock-horror, and for some odd reason Ranko compared her Aunt-turned-mother to her memories of her much-beloved Grandfather, with his penchant for crying at the drop of a hankie, and without knowing quite why she laughed out loud at the contrast, earning many a puzzled look from those closest to her, not that she wanted to sound like a giggling idiot her first day at Time Central.

She forced herself to remain serious and sober once again, but in the back of her mind she knew that she was going to get involved in some way with the coming crisis, and it was better not to fight her fate, good intentions on the part of the adults around her notwithstanding.

After all...she was a Saotome...and trouble was something people like her were drawn to like a magnet. All she had to do was stand and wait and sense the moment when it would be her turn to act, and besides which she was rather hoping to see some fondly-remembered familiar faces once again, like Rinse and Watazashi, or that annoying girl Silver, whom she still owed back for a royal screw-job! Ranko always paid her debts, after all, and tripping through time wasn't all that half-bad, once you got used to the constant changes of scenery and the weird historical revisions you encountered with each timeline.

With that in mind she held her silence and waited, learning the difficult art of patience, a quality that rarely came easy to a Saotome. She only wondered what new faces she might encounter this time, and would they share anything in common or be totally different, the product of weird combinations and circumstances where different parenting and conditions resulted in Paratime Siblings whose individual traits were such that she would barely even recognize them as family, though beyond doubt such kids would be anything but ordinary...especially if they came from the Houses of Tendo and Saotome...!

Interlude One.

(Sayo Sanosuke,  
Hiroshi Honsamu)

Continuum #47512936

Hiroshi was not in a particularly good mood as his father drove him to his new High School, all too conscious of his school uniform, which felt strange and unnatural after years of wearing priestly robes all year round.

"Don't get so fidgety, Sport," his father tried to reassured him, "It's only for a few weeks until things die down a bit. You know how those Black World radicals have been getting a bit restless of late, so your mother and I thought you should get out to the suburbs, meet a few more kids your own age, socialize, maybe even go on dates..."

"You mean normal stuff that ordinary people do my age?" Hiroshi responded, not meaning to sound bitter, "Are you forgetting, Dad, that I'm not exactly 'normal' people?"

"Lighten up, Son," Honsamu Maki chided the boy beside him, "After seventeen years being married to your mother, you think I don't know what the differences are between you, her and the rest of society? That's not what I mean and you know it...I mean you should get more in touch with your human side. You know that Gusepei thinks you're ready to have a little interaction outside the Temple..."

"Master Gusepei seems to think I'm not applying myself to my studies," Hiroshi sulked, "He seems to think I'm blocking out for some reason...as if I wasn't trying hard to live up to this big responsibility that everybody thinks I'm destined to live up to..."

"Hey, I'm on your side, remember?" Maki urged, "Nothing would make me happier than if you had a perfectly normal childhood, Son. It's not like your mother and I planned all this out...things just happened to us and we've tried to make the best of things. Personally I think it sucks big time that you have to be the one to bridge the destiny between the Human and Black worlds, but when we signed the last treaty it was with the understanding that our two worlds were coming closer together...in point of fact your very conception proved that because I used to think it was impossible for Takia and me to have a kid together, before we found ourselves saddled with you and your little sister, not that either of us are complaining."

Hiroshi tried not to think of his little sister, the annoyingly precocious brat who seemed like his total opposite in all things, and who seemed to revel in her human side while taking advantage of the parts of her that were pure demon. At time they were barely even on speaking terms and she rarely-if ever-paid any visits to the Temple that he was all but raised in."

"I'm not blaming you for anything, Dad," Hiroshi insisted, knowing that it was a sin to lie, even while keeping his fingers firmly crossed behind his back, "It's just this whole business where I'm supposed to bring in a new age of peaceful coexistence between Mom's world and ours is just..."

"Would you look at that?" his father interrupted, "Now if that doesn't beat everything..."

"Huh?" Hiroshi was taken aback by the sudden shift in the direction of their conversation and turned to see what it was that his father was talking about...and then he saw a sight that was as out of place in a modern Tokyo suburb as his last family get together of his closest relations from both the Human and Demon worlds (And what a party that was! Master Gusepei was in Heaven, while Hiroshi barely even remembered anything beyond experiencing his first hangover...)

There were the walls of what obviously looked like a schoolyard, and the tarnished metal sign indeed read, "Furinkan High School." That was just as obviously not what had drawn his father's attention, and as their car came to a complete halt before the gates, Hiroshi saw what his father was staring at and had to blink twice to convince himself it was not one of his periodic Clairvoyant visions.

There were students in the school yard...at least fifty of them in all, gathered in a circle about a young girl with long brown hair dressed in a Samurai-like Hakama, a Japanese sword thrust through her sash while she stood at ease, calm and composed in a way that did not seem entirely human.

"What in the world?" his father asked, already stepping out of the car to get a better look, "Are they filming a movie or something? I thought this was supposed to be a perfectly normal High school..."

Hiroshi was just a little behind his father in exiting the vehicle, wanting to get a better look at what was happening as the brown-haired Samurai girl confronted a tough-looking boy who had a swaggering manner. It was easy to tell who was the bully here, but the odds against the girl made Hiroshi feel the urge to leap in and come to her rescue.

"Hold up a minute, sport," his father urged, thrusting a brawny arm in his son's path, "Don't rush in until you know the situation."

None of the students seemed to take notice of them, and the leader was boisterous as he said, "You got a lotta nerve showing up here dressed like that, Girlie-girl. If you're not a student of this school then we're gonna have to ask you to leave...after you pay us a fee for our troubles."

"I have little money to offer," the girl replied without the least hint of concern in her voice, "I am only here in search of knowledge, which I was told I could find here. I wish to know what happened to my Grandfather...would you be one who could tell me what became of Tendo Soun?"

Hiroshi was not sure if he was reading things right, but he could swear from the sudden shift of mood in the mob surrounding the girl that the name "Tendo Soun" was significant for some strange reason.

"Your grandfather?" the leader scowled, "Why would you want to know about what happened to that old fart?"

"I am his last remaining relative," the girl replied, "And that means I have an obligation to seek the truth. Will you tell me what you know of these matters and how he met his recent ending?"

"Why should we tell you anything?" the leader gave a nasty little smirk that set Hiroshi on edge, because that look reminded him too much of a Black World Radical sizing up a potential victim, "You can't even pay us."

"Then perhaps we might come up with a reasonable trade?" the girl suggested.

"Sure thing," the boy leered, "Why don't you strip for us and then we'll talk."

"Why that-!" Hiroshi felt the overwhelming need to lash out at the pervert boy for even daring to make such a suggestion to a lady, but again his father restrained him with a hand to his shoulder and murmured tightly, "Not yet...there's something that girl...don't interfere just yet. Let's see what happens."

Hiroshi could not believe that his father-OF ALL PEOPLE-was urging restraint rather than rushing into a battle with his gun blazing blue fire-death. What did his father think this was, one of Master Gusepei's kiddie Anime where the lone hero could out-fight an army? Things like that just did not happen in real life, and the odds this girl was facing...

"Excuse me?" said girl asked calmly, as if the boy had just asked her for the time of day.

"You heard me, Slut," the gang leader leered even more suggestively (which Hiroshi had not thought possible until that moment), "Show us your body and maybe we'll tell you something useful."

"I can see being reasonable will get me no where with you," the girl spoke with unbelievable calm, with barely even a hint of outrage at the perverted gang-  
leader's suggestion, "But I did not come here seeking to cause trouble."

"That's tough," the leader silently signaled to the other boys, who had been quietly flanking the girl and now approached with the clear intent of grabbing her from behind.

That was when the impossible happened. Hiroshi would later swear that he had not even seen the girl move, let alone reach for her weapon, when all at once her sword was out of its scabbard and the four boys trying to sneak up on her from behind went flying! All at once she seemed to disappear from the spot, only to reappear again in a blur of incredible motion, striking everywhere at once and sending the boys and girls attempting to hem her in sprawling on the sidewalk or stretched out over the landscape. In all she took no more than ten seconds to lay waste to the field of battle, and the last one to fall was the gang leader himself, who received the hilt of her sword to his jaw with such force that Hiroshi knew it either had to have been broken or severely dislocated.

The girl's sword slid back into its sheath before Hiroshi even knew that the fight was ended. He had not even caught a glimpse of the blade itself for the speed with which it had moved, and now he had trouble even believing that it had ever existed.

"Smooth moves," his father commented, startling Hiroshi out of the daze he had fallen into, "Reminds me a bit of your mother."

"But...how...?" Hiroshi vaguely waved his hands to indicate the impossible that had just happened, hearing the groans of the injured, though many more seemed motionless among the fallen.

To his surprise the girl turned to glance in their direction, and though she stood completely at ease he could see the way her hand seemed poised to draw steel once again as she regarded them with eyes as clear of emotion as though nothing extraordinary had just happened.

"Don't worry," his father waved both empty hands at the girl as if to reassure her, "We're not with these guys. I was just admiring your fencing style...Mitsurugi Kempo, right?"

"Hijiro Mitsurugi Kempo," the girl corrected, "And what is your interest?"

"Botany, collecting butterflies, that sort of thing," Hiroshi's father smiled at her in a friendly manner, muttering under his breath, "If I wasn't already happily married..."

Hiroshi was about to voice his disgust at his father's lecherous expression when his eyes took notice of one of the street-tough students starting to recover. The boy's hand was reaching around the back of his shirt in a manner that seemed far too sinister for ignoring, so before the thought was even completed Hiroshi leaped into action, obeying his own training with instinctive reflexes that were backed by the power of his Dark World heritage. His leap carried him over the fifteen-meter distance that separated himself from the girl, twisting in mid-air like a great cat to land on his feet, interposing himself between the Samurai girl and possible danger.

"HIYAAA!" Hiroshi gestured sharply, and a shard-like crystal manifested in the air, flying like a deadly needle to strike the young boy in the neck and instantly paralyzed him, his nervous system freezing up from the sudden jolt of spiritual magics. It was only belatedly that Hiroshi saw the gun in the young man's hand and realized that he had acted just in time to prevent the hoodlum from squeezing off a shot in the girl's direction.

"Are you all...right...?" Hiroshi began to say as he turned around to stare at the girl, only to find that she was already staring at him with a completely surprised and confused expression. One look at her heart-shaped face stole his breath away completely, for her eyes drew him in like sapphire-blue magnets, the power of that gaze putting shame to the best efforts of his mother's own people.

"Who...are you?" she asked in a tone that displayed more emotion than had heretofore been in evidence in her expression.

"Ah..." Hiroshi found the power of speech had left him altogether, and all he could do was look into a perfect face that belonged to an angel as the girl looking back at him had no guile or malice in her soul, was utterly devoid of a dark side and seemed entirely pure in her emotions.

"Well, what do you know?" he heard his father comment from a very far distance, "You're a chip off the old block after all, kid. Nice to know that some of me made it into your genetics."

"Ah..." Hiroshi and the girl promptly broke eye contact and each looked away with an almost identical expression of bewilderment and confusion. For a moment the girl did not seem so aloof and unearthly, her face coloring the appropriate shade of pink that drew a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk from Hiroshi's father.

Then Honsamu Maki turned to take notice of the man approaching them from the vicinity of the main school building, and he addressed himself to that worthy by saying, "Vice-Principal Daisuke...is this the sort of thing that normally goes on in this school? I ought to sue you for false advertising..."

"It's unfortunate, but I don't blame you for being upset," the Vice Principal replied with a grim-faced expression, "Most of our students are fairly law abiding, but lately we've been forced to take in some pretty bad apples. That one fellow you decked, young lady, is the son of a prominent businessman in town who has some underworld connections..."

"Yakuza?" the girl inquired, seemingly grateful for the sudden change in conversation.

"Unfortunately yes," the Vice Principal replied, "He's managed to worm his influence over a portion of the student body that doesn't mind creating these disturbances, and we can't even expel him without getting heat from above. Nice to see him get hoist on his own petard, though...it's also very nice to see you again at Furinkan High, miss."

"Excuse me?" the girl responded.

"I knew it had to be you the moment I set eyes on you," the man resumed, "Your sword style was all the clincher I needed."

"I'm afraid you must have me confused with someone else," the girl responded, "I have never been to this district before, and I most certain that this is my first time visiting this High School."

"Maybe so," the Vice Principal replied, "But I knew your mother...I'd recognize her in you any day from here to the coming judgement. You're Tendo Kasumi's girl...and I'm willing to wager that your father was a Saotome."

"But my family name is Sanosuke," the girl replied, "Sanosuke Sayo...and I have never even met my real mother and father..."

"Sanosuke is probably the name they gave you to hide your real identity," the Vice Principal nodded, "Your father was Saotome Ranma, I've no doubt in my mind about that whatsoever. I was...he was my best friend many years ago...before he disappeared from Nerima."

"I know that my mother was a woman of the Tendo clan," the girl named Sayo replied, "And I think her name was Kasumi...but my uncle, who raised me, has never told me much about my parents."

"Your uncle?" Maki asked the young girl, whom he was already beginning to secretly size up with a coy eye directed at Hiroshi, who seemed utterly tongue-  
tied.

"Hiko Seijiro," the girl casually replied, "Nineteenth Master of Hijiro Mitsurugi Ryu."

"Look...if you've come all this way from wherever you've been to find out information about the Tendos," the Vice Principal spoke up, "Then you need go no further than my office. I'll be happy to tell you all that I know about your family, and what happened to your Grandfather, and why the Police have never done anything about it..."

"Excuse me," Maki interrupted, then before anyone could ask what he was about he drew his gun from the concealment of his jacket and squeezed off a shot that dug a fist-sized hole in the ground very near to the fallen gang leader. Said leader took one look at the hole only five centimeters from the vicinity of his head and wisely let go of the gun he had been about to pull out and promptly fainted.

"Asshole," Maki growled, "Didn't your Momma ever tell you it's not polite to point? Sorry about the interruption," he added as he calmly resheathed the big gun he carried in its concealing holster.

"Ah...quite all right," Vice Principal Daisuke visibly paled, "Ah...let's get back to my office and I'll make some tea. Do you prefer decaf?"

"No," Maki replied matter-of-factly, "I like it strong and black, like I like my women."

"Dad!" Hiroshi snapped out of his daze, embarrassed at having such a crude remark being voiced in the presence of a living Angel.

"Thank you," the girl spoke softly as if she had not even heard this exchange, "I would be grateful for the tea...and anything you can tell me about my parents."

"Right this way," the Vice Principal urged, pausing only when he heard a rumbling noise in the sky overhead, to which he half-murmured to himself, "Naw...she can't have copied him in that regard, can she?"

"Excuse me?" the girl wondered.

"Never mind," Daisuke replied, and promptly changed the subject...

Continuum #59343921

Princess Masaki Tenko of the royal House of Jurai arrived at her home after a brief flight from her rather eventful visit to the home of the Daitokuji. Her thoughts soared on the wind even as her feet touched down upon the Earth once again, and then she did her level best to compose herself, smiling all the while with a happy glow that even the grass and flowers seemed to notice. She was humming happily to herself when she entered her family residence and promptly resumed her role as a modest and dutiful daughter.

"Tadaima!" she called out even as she paused to remove her footwear, "Is anyone home?"

From the vicinity of the kitchen she heard one of her mothers calling out, "Is that you, Tenko-dear? Oh my...you're late back from school...I do hope you weren't being kept after classes?"

"No, Mother Ayeka," Tenko called out, then promptly teleported into the kitchen to present herself to her Juraian elder, "I got involved in some activities with my friends that were rather...strenuous...and I'm sorry if I worried you. Is father home yet?"

The apron-wearing Masaki Ayeka smiled at the dutiful child of her house and said, "Your father is still at the office presenting the new design specs that he's been laboring over. Your mother..." and here the royal Princess gave a slightly sour and exasperated twist to her voice, "...Is no doubt lounging about like the lazy cur she is rather than helping with the chores. By the way, dinner will be ready soon, so I hope you haven't already eaten?"

Tenko did her best to affect an amiable smile, though in truth her mother's cooking was somewhat less than stellar and she would much rather have been the one to tend to her duties in the kitchen. Since her Aunt Sasami had opened her own restaurant it had been all her mothers could do to try and fill in for the void of their more domestic sibling, leaving Tenko to do what was necessary to make up for their short comings. She did not mind it, of course, having always enjoyed housework as a relaxing way of structuring her mornings. Unfortunately her recent trips through time had thrown her a bit off schedule...not least of all due to some very spirited activity recently concluded between herself and a certain brown-haired demi-goddess.

Of course she was saved from having to explain this by the timely arrival of her biological mother, who floated through the ceiling and came up from behind Lady Ayeka, surprising her co-wife with a pair of affectionate arms wrapped around her body.

"Did I hear somebody mention me by name?" Masaki Ryoko cooed into Ayeka's ear.

"No you did not!" Ayeka replied with prim indignation, "I specifically did not mention you by name, you filthy beast, and unhand me this minute! How dare you think of a thing like that when I'm in the middle of making dinner!"

"Massacring dinner is more like it," Ryoko cooed without releasing her hold on the other woman, "Glad to see you're back, kid...we can sure use you around the place. Do you mind if I borrow your Mom for a while? She and I have some business to discuss together..."

"Business?" Ayeka sputtered, "I know what kind of 'business' you have on that filthy mind of yours! Can't you at least wait until Tenchi gets home before you go about your rutting?"

"Ah...but I'm so bored with waiting," Ryoko pouted, slipping a hand beneath Ayeka's dress to fondle what lay under there, "And besides...with the kid here, you won't be missed if I kidnap you for a while, right?"

"What?" Ayeka started to protest when she found herself being pulled through a wall, voicing half-hearted indignation as she was spirited away by an amorous space-pirate.

Tenko sighed, reflecting on how little things ever seemed to change about the Masaki household. Her parents carried on like that all the time whether or not she was around, and sometimes it could get downright embarrassing, such as when she was having company over. Why couldn't adults behave like adults in front of their children? It was like what happened whenever one or both of her mothers got upset over anything, no matter how slight, then life around the house could be like living in the middle of a war-zone!

Still...she had to reflect that her mother did have some idea what she was doing, and that knowing wink Ryoko had turned her way confirmed in her daughter's mind that getting Lady Ayeka out of the kitchen for a while was probably for the best...or at the very least for the collective sakes of their stomachs. She checked up on the pot of miso currently stewing over a fire and winced slightly at the protest of her finally honed taste buds. Her co-mother had been at it again trying to "improvise" on the flavor, but not as badly as was often the case. She could work a bit to repair the damage so that no one was the wiser and thus avoid having to hurt Lady Ayeka's feelings. Too bad Aunt Sasami seemed to have acquired all of the domestic talents in her branch of the family, and thank the Kami above that Tenko studied hard to make up for the deficiencies of her Space-Pirate mother, preferring to take more after her father when it came to making up a household.

Still and all it was good to be back in the kitchen preparing food the old fashioned way for the family she dearly loved more than life itself. It took next to no time at all for her to whip up a half a dozen fairly exotic dishes, thinking all the while how much she wished that someone else were on hand to share the experience with her. She smiled as she thought of that certain someone, and of the joy that was always in her heart whenever Veil was with her helping to do housework.

In truth she missed Veil already, even though they had only spoken their "good-  
byes" a very short while ago after taking their leave of the Daitokuji household and the lab of their good friend, Ekko.

Tendo suppressed the urge to dial up on the Vid-phone to talk to the demi-  
goddess as she thought wistfully of the new experiences that they had shared, experiences that had forever altered the nature of their lifelong friendship. She wondered if Veil were feeling the same right about then, and decided that she would indeed ask her after dinner was made ready. Veil was the type of person who could always make Tenko's day seem a lot brighter, and not just because of the divine munificence cast by her very presence.

She was almost done with her kitchen work when her younger brother, Teneka, showed up to say, "Hey, that smells good, Sis! What did you do, sell Mom to the Pirates?"

"Nothing so drastic, little brother," Tenko smiled as she finished making the miso stew seem edible, then checked the consistency of the noodles, "Mom came to my rescue and is running interference. My guess is that they're in the baths together taking a long soak, and it's not worth your life to try and disturb them."

"This time of day?" Teneka reacted with dismay, "Sheesh! Don't they ever come up for air? I swear that Dad's the only normal guy in this whole family...present company exempted.'

"Agreed," Tenko replied with a grin as she regarded her fourteen-year-old brother with a knowing twinkle in her eyes, "But give yourself a couple of years and you may start thinking differently, especially when the ladies start to take notice of what a handsome young Prince you are."

"Ah geez," the young boy winced, "Do you have to say weird stuff like that about me, Oneechan? You don't catch me riding on your tail about all the time you spend with your girlfriends?"

"Oh?" Tenko tried to make her expression as innocent as she could manage.

"Don't play dumb with me," Teneka frowned, "I know you spend a lot of time around Grandmother, but she says you've been out a lot more visiting with those three 'best buddies' of yours. Dad and our Moms may think it's all pretty innocent, but I'm not so thick in the head that I don't see you blushing whenever you get a phone call."

"I don't know what you're talking about, little brother," Tenko turned away and tried to recompose her expression, "Ekko, Lylac and I are just friends...and Veil...well...you know we have a lot in common together..."

"You're telling me?" Teneka sniffed, "If it weren't that you guys have different hair colors I'd almost think you were bookends. Ah, but it's none of my business any way. Just don't talk stuff about me and girls...you don't even want to go there!"

"Oh?" Tenko again tried to feign innocence, "Do I take it to mean that you're not having problems with a certain classmate by the family name of Mamoru?"

Her brother colored abruptly, balled his fists and looked away, "I said don't go there, Sis...do I have to spell it out for you? Geez! Besides, who'd want anything to do with a ditz like Chibi-Usa? She stuck up and thinks she's some kind of Moon Princess, and that talking Cat of hers..." he grumbled in a way that suggested to Tenko that he was mincing his language.

"That's not a very nice thing to say, little Brother," Tenko chided as she finished ladling out a plate of fresh noodles, then set to cover it in order to preserve their freshness, "I'm sure little Bunny says sweet things about you too."

"Don't call her little Bunny!" Teneka snapped, "And besides...I'm a Prince too, I just don't go around trying to impress people about it on account of they'd say weird stuff about me..."

"Oh well," Tenko mused pleasantly as she filled a plate with freshly cooked teriyaki meat, "As you say, it's none of my business. By the way, dinner's ready. Care to wake up Ryeka?"

"Do I look suicidal?" Teneka replied, then in a more moderate tone he added, "Why don't you do it, Oneechan? She at least listens to you part of the time, and you're the only one who can handle her when she's being a baka."

"True enough I suppose," Tenko mused, "Wait here and guard the fort in case Aunt Mihoshi pays us a visit, or Kiyone. I'll only be a minute."

With that Tenko formed an image in her mind of the layout of her house, then focused on the room that belonged to her half-sister, Ryeka, and spot-teleported to the precise coordinates that would bring her hovering over the bed of her fellow Masaki Princess.

As expected Ryeka was sacked out like a light, sprawling over the bed in a tank-  
top shirt and white panties, looking every inch the slob that their mutual mother was often accused of being. Tenko did not really think that way about her sister, but she would be the first to admit that Ryeka was definitely "a chip off the old DNA block," which was how their grandmother often described her.

Tenko gently settled down to the floor and studied the snoring Ryeka with a fond expression, contrasting her with a certain recent paratime acquaintance who was nearly identical to this Ryeka in every respect, right down to the riotous way she styled her hair and played the part of a rebel. The only significant difference, of course, was that this version of her sister was not currently involved chasing after a girl who was in many respects a lot like their friend, Lylac.

Indeed, the parallels were many, but so were the numerous contrasts. Tenko wondered about those differences and if they might be in part due to the other Ryeka having a steady love interest, whereas her actual sister had no such overtures given to either boys or girls their own age. The Ryeka she had met was just as hard-edged and competitive, though, and more prone to cleaning up her act, whereas this Ryeka had developed an early taste for Sake due to the influences of their mother. Indeed, sometimes Ryeka smelled as much like a brewery as Ryoko herself, much to the exasperation and horror of Ryeka's other biological mother, Lady Ayeka.

Indeed...such difference brought about through association with a girl named Rinse...how fascinating that was, not to mention that Ryeka's rivalry with an Oni princess named Atari. The last time Tenko had seen the trio, though, they seemed well on their way to settling their differences with another rival suitor named Tachi. If anything Tenko felt pity extended towards Rinse, who was definitely the one being hen-pecked by four different lovers, one of them being some boy by the curious name of Ryoukio, her actual fiancee.

Ah, the wonders of parallel Earth travel! So many chances to discover how the other side lived, and what life might have been like if not for a few different choices made somewhere in the past resulting in radically different outcomes...

Ryeka's breathing altered slightly, and Tenko looked down at the peaceful face of her half-sister, who was the product of one of their Grandmother's more successful experiments in genetic cross-breeding, testing to see if Ryoko's genes were compatible with a full blooded Juraian. (Tenko often wondered what Lady Ayeka's expression had been like on the day that she had learned that she and Ryoko were expecting and that their child would be delivered in a test tube...to say the least her co-mother must have had quite a few words to say on that subject).

"Sis?" she voice softly aloud, sitting down on the bed beside Ryeka, "Could you wake up for a minute, please?"

Ryeka's breath grew shallow, then returned to normal and the blue haired girl on the bed opened one eye to turn and focus upon Tenko.

"Whatdyawantsis?" Ryeka asked in barely recognizable slurred speech.

"Oh...nothing too much," Tenko said evasively, "I just...wanted to talk to you about something..."

That got Ryeka's other eye to open, and in a low voice she said, "Either I'm hungover worse'n I thought, or that just sounded like you coming to me looking for advice. What gives, Sis? What's got you buggered alluva sudden?"

"Well..." Tenko did not even know where to begin, so she tried to be as frank as she thought she could get away with, "Something happened today...something wonderful...and I...felt the need to talk about it with somebody who might listen. Not grandmother, of course, and surely neither one of our mothers..."

"Gotcha," Ryeka combed her hair out of her eyes and groaned slightly as she felt her temples, "And Dad's definitely a non-starter...and since Aunt Sasami now has her own place, I guess that does kinda narrow your options a little...especially if you have to choose between me and our little Brat of a kid brother."

"Right," Tenko agreed, then hastily added, "But I want your word that you won't tell anyone else about what I'm going to tell you. It's...personal..."

"Oh yeah?" now Ryeka was fully awake and staring in disbelief at her half-  
sister, "What's the deal here, Sis? I can't even conceive of you ever doing anything naughty..."

"Well...you would be surprised," Tenko shrugged, "It's been a rather eventful day, and I have to tell somebody or I feel like I'm going to explode..."

"Ew!" Ryeka winced, "Not all over my bed, okay? So...what is this big secret that you don't wanna share with anybody but me? I can keep it to myself, honest! Is it a guy? Did you make out with some handsome stud you just met? I'll bet you just couldn't wait to drop that sorry 'old maid' look and let it all hang out, Sister..."

"It's...not a guy," Tenko corrected, then paused, "I mean...not a boy...ah...that is..."

"Huh?" Ryeka sat upright, "Are you telling me you made out with another girl?"

Tenko nodded her head and could not keep from blushing.

Ryeka's eyes widened as one immediate possibility leaped into her mind, "You mean...Veil?"

Tenko nodded again and could not meet her sister's astonished gaze though her smile was serene and her face was like a ripened cherry.

"Oboy..." was all her half-sister could say...right before a tremendous explosion shook the house and caused the shatter-proof windows of Ryeka's room to vibrate as bits of earth pelted the house in a most alarming manner.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?" Ryeka cried, already out of her bed and flying to phase her head through the nearest wall.

"I don't know," Tenko responded as she joined her, "I didn't know Aunt Mihoshi and Kiyone would be paying us a visit."

Ryeka shielded her eyes as she took in the cloud of dust rising up from a nearby mountain, "I don't think that was the Yokinojo, Sis...it missed the lake entirely, and even Mihoshi's not that awful a pilot."

"I think we should investigate," Tenko agreed, and with that thought in mind both sisters took to the air, flying like a pair of comets in search of the cause of this recent explosion.

"Over there!" Ryeka called out after several minutes of intensive searching, "I'll race you to it! Last one there has to interrupt Mom and Dad while they're sharing a hot-tub!"

"Wait!" Tenko urged her sister, "We don't know what we may be encountering, it could be dangerous!"

"For us?" Ryeka scoffed, "What could be more dangerous than us on this planet?"

With that she accelerated to close the distance between them and the crater, leaving Tenko to murmur in reply, "Believe me, Sis, you don't want to know the answer to that one..."

Of course by the time she caught up with Ryeka her impulsive younger sibling had already discovered the capsule laying in the middle of the crater. Being impulse as she was, she naturally approached too close and said, "What the heck is this thing, some kind of a Space ship? Looks like a rescue pod or something..."

"Ah...Sis..." Tenko said with more caution, "You don't want to do that...!"

"Do what?" Ryeka asked as she pushed a button that caused the capsule to pop open, and then as a rush of air signified a change in compression she turned to see a form moving from within and she blinked before saying, "Hey...it looks just like..."

She got no further than that before a fist lashed out at her in an almost impulsive manner, and then the alien hybrid girl went flying backwards.

"Ryeka-chan!" Tenko called out in dismay as she watched her sister go plowing into several distant trees with what would have been bone-breaking force had the two of them been merely human. Without thinking twice of the matter, Tenko activated her Juraian armor, flexed both of her hands and manifested her blue-  
fire sword, assuming a martial pose as she readied herself to use it.

To her surprise the dark haired form emerging from the capsule staggered forward, muttering a barely coherent, "Help me..." and fell face-first into the dirt, quite obviously unconscious.

Tenko stared down at what appeared to be a girl her own age with long raven-  
black hair done up in a pony tail, dressed in an ochre-colored gi and seeming deceptively innocent, for all that her brief display of strength had definitely confirmed that she was both dangerous and alien, two factors combined to explain why Ryeka would be nursing a headache that had little to do with any hangover. Without words she let her sword vanish from her hands and then softly remarked, "Ara..." unaware at that moment how much she sounded like Morisato Veil, though her sister was not presently conscious enough to voice such an opinion...

Continued.

Comments/Criticism/Cubism Made Easy: shadowmane

Things begin to heat up as the Warriors of alternate Worlds begin discovering themselves in times and places very different from their usual surroundings. Will the mystery be revealed to them through Time or will the enigma of the current crisis continue to grow out of all proportion and logic? Find out more about that the next time in, "Haven't we Met Before in a different Continuum?" or "When Worlds Kareoke!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works.  



	4. Chapter 4

RanCubed03

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

Chapter Three.

Love at First Fight

Continuum # 32145896

"Hah, too slow little Brother!" Xian-Ma taunted as she dodged the attack of the blue haired boy who was two years her junior in the arts of Anything Goes Martial Arts.

"You just wait, Sis!" Saotome Mace retorted as he twisted his body around in mid-air, propelled himself off of a nearby tree trunk and performed an impossible acrobatic maneuver, bringing both his legs into play with a double-  
Dragon stamp kick that shattered a boulder behind where his sister had been standing a mere instant before impact.

Xian-ma...or Shanma (Mountain Pony) flowed around the space occupied by her brother and locked her arms around him in a full Nelson. No sooner did her younger brother cry out, "ONEECHAN!" then she deposited him with a flip into the nearby river, where Mace sputtered and splashed in wounded indignity for the next several seconds.

"Too cocky by half, Bro," Shanma cheerfully called down, "Why don't you cool off until you're ready to get serious. Pop wants us to do our best, and the way you've been fighting you might as well be sleep walking."

"Oh yeah?" Mace glowered, "Then why don't you try it, Sis!"

Moving his hands too fast to see he scooped out several gallons of water and propelled them to shore, kicking up a wave and catching his older sister flat-  
footed. Shanma only had time enough to utter an "Oh no!" that sounded more like a gasp and then the wave caught her good and solid.

"Hooboy," muttered Ranma as he watched his children's romp from concealment, "That's not gonna improve her mood any..."

"Serves her right for letting her guard down," Shampoo murmured at his side, "Shanma needs to learn not to gloat so much when she has the advantage. That's one of your more lamentable traits that she's inherited full force."

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" her husband asked archly.

"You're both too competitive," Shampoo answered, "You always have to be on top..."

"How's that again, Kitty?" Ranma asked his companion's lovely profile, "Never heard you complaining when I was on top last night..."

"Funny," his wife smirk wryly at him, "I was just going to say the same thing myself, Airen."

"Oh...gross!" Shanma sputtered as she shook off the water that now soaked through the fur that covered a good portion of her body, "I just washed my hair, now look at it! You owe me big time for that, little brother!"

"So sue me!" Mace taunted back as he vaulted out of the water, already in his own cursed form, "You wanted me to speed things up? Well, now we're at full maximum, and I hope you're happy!"

Shanma bared her fangs as her semi-feline face formed a snarl of challenge, "Just watch my claws, Bro, now the fur is gonna fly!"

"Uh oh," Ranma said, "Looks like they've upped the ante. I hope they don't scratch each other up too much. Nabiki always hates it when they come home in bandages..."

"If they're going to play, then they have to prepared to take as well as give it," Shampoo insisted, "Nabiki knows that as well as any of us, and if she wants to have more of a part to play in their training then she should join us on these exercises. I don't see why she can't train Kachima in Lore Mastery out here instead of back in the dojo..."

"Feeling restless without her, Kitty?" Ranma smirked, "Well, I miss her too, but you know Nabs likes to keep an eye on the business while we're out having a good time looking after the wildcats."

Whatever his wife had been about to say was forgotten when their children separated to take stock of one another, assuming matching cat-like postures as they prepared to renew their sibling squabbles, only to pause when a large metal object hit the ground between them, forcing both Saotome offspring to turn their eyes up to one of the nearby tall tree branches.

"Sorry, Kid, but I'm cutting in on this dance," a youthful voice called down, "Besides, I kinda like your big Sis's furry hide when it's standing on end like that."

"What are you doing here?" Shanma snarled as her diamond-slitted eyes narrowed dangerously, "Can't you see I'm in the middle of training?"

"Yeah, I can see that," the brown haired figure replied before leaping from its perch and landing a short distance away from the battling Saotomes, adopting a nonchalant pose before adding, "What about it?"

Shanma's fluffy tail swished in irritation as she regarded the cocky youth with neither friendliness nor welcome, "What do you want from me, Ganymede? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I can see that," the handsome youth in the male school uniform replied, "But what's wrong with training against me? I can give you an even better workout than Mace here...no offence to you, Kid..."

"Who are you calling a kid?" Mace retorted.

"That's Sempai to you," the youth named Ganymede ignored the bristling look in the younger boy's eyes and instead remained focused upon his sister, "How about it, Pony-girl, or do I have to issue you a formal challenge?"

"What the...?" Ranma bristled from his own place of concealment, "What is that Kuonji kid doing? You don't really think...?"

"Hold on a moment, Airen," his wife urged with a hand to his forearm, "I want to watch and see what Ukyo's child is up to with our daughter. This could get interesting."

"That's what I'm afraid of," her husband grumbled with a sour expression.

"You...arrogant whelp of a puppy..." Shanma hissed like a cat issuing a challenge.

"Never mind the flattery, Beautiful," Ganymede responded, "Do you accept my challenge or don't you?"

"An Amazon never refuses any challenge," Shanma said evenly between clenched teeth, "Even from a cocky Sunovabitch like you!"

"Oh, I'm hurt," Ganymede replied, "Just for that I'll fight you without any weapons, just the way you've wanted me from the beginning, Babe."

"Who said I ever wanted you?" Shanma snorted, assuming a fighting crouch, "Get ready for a royal pounding!"

"You know, you're beautiful when you're threatening my life," Ganymede remarked before assuming a martial posture, "But just so you know, Babe, I'm going to win this time...it's a forgone conclusion."

"In your dreams, Pig!" Shanma cried before leaping to the attack, striking like a blur of purple furry motion, only to find Ganymede melted away as though made entirely of water.

"Uh oh," Ranma said.

"What do you mean by 'Oh-oh?'" Shampoo asked him.

"There's something different about Gana's fighting technique," her husband explained, "I don't think Shanma's gonna take this one in a Shoe-in, and you know what that means..."

"Aiyaa," his purple haired wife murmured faintly, seeing her eldest daughter slashing out at the taller Ganymede's shadow and coming to the realization that the Kuonji youth had vastly improved from the last time these two had faced one another.

Mace was staring round eyed as he watched his sister going at it with the eldest child of the House of Kuonji, the taller youth moving swiftly and fluidly to avoid his older sister's blindly swift attacks. Shanma was going all out with claws and feet, using every trick in her arsenal and getting rapidly no where. It was as if Ganymede read all of her moves long in advance and knew instinctively where to be when each attack was launched, which frustrated the oldest Saotome offspring to no end as Shanma had not expected to be working this hard just to lay a hand on her elusive opponent.

"Fight me!" Shanma snarled, "Are you just gonna run away all day?"

"No," Ganymede replied, "I'm just enjoying watching you work for it, Beautiful. You're poetry in motion, and you've sure improved a lot from when we danced like this the last time."

"Eh?" Shanma paused, not knowing how to react to this compliment in light of the fact that her opponent had obviously improved a lot more than she had in the same interval.

"I'll let you in on a clue," Ganymede remarked before coming to stand a short distance away, "I've been out on a journey of self-discovery, coming to understand a few things about myself, which has also helped me improve my martial arts. And you know...I've come to a rather amazing conclusion."

"Yeah?" Shanma asked, "So?"

"You were right about me all along, Beautiful," Ganymede handsome face inclined in a polite nod in her direction.

Shanma was so surprised by that that she nearly facefaulted, "I what...?"

"I was just too full of myself to realize it at the time," her opponent resumed, "Now that I have had time to think about it, I've come to the conclusion that I wasn't acting entirely honest with you. We've known each other nearly all of our lives, I should have known I could have been straight with you, but I wasn't. My fault, really...I just didn't know how to open myself up with you...you're way too intimidating."

"Say what?" Shanma blinked her eyes twice, while her little brother spoke up and said, "All right, who are you and what have you done with the real Ganymede?"

"I'm still here, Squirt," Ganymede replied, "Just a little older and a whole lot wiser. I'm more in touch with who and what I am these days...I finally know the truth about myself, and it's made all the difference."

"What kind of difference?" Shanma's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I'm ready to commit myself now," Ganymede answered, "I know what I want, and what I want is you. You mean the world to me, Shanma, and I want you to understand that and appreciate that I'm not the same guy that you seem to remember."

"You...want me?" Shanma's mask of hostility began to falter a little.

"Yes," the handsome youth before her answered, "But because I respect you and know how important your Amazon traditions are to you, I'm willing to go all out to prove my seriousness in making my petition...therefore...have at you!"

This time the tall Kuonji youth took the initiative and came on at the astonished hirsute cat-girl like a rolling tide propelled by the force of a Tsunami. Ganymede was literally everywhere at once with fists in motion, forcing Shanma to take evasive action and fully press her defenses to the utmost, just barely keeping out of range while her opponent seemed to flow with incredible gracefulness and economy of motion. Shanma barely avoided a lightning kick that came within a hairswidth of connecting with her chin, only to seemingly pull back at the last centimeter. In avoiding this, however, Shanma left herself open to a solid blow that Ganymede landed on her solar plexus, knocking her backward and down to her knees as she stood gasping for air on the ground, backed up against several trees and clearly having no where to avoid the next attack as the tall youth cornered her and held the lavender-  
furred girl at an obvious disadvantage.

Though Ganymede's quarry was cornered and run to ground, however, the handsome youth did not renew the assault, preferring to wait until Shanma had regained her wind rather than go for an easy victory, which left everyone staring at these two with confusion.

"I'm sorry," Ganymede said at last, "That's going to leave a bruise. I would have pulled that punch, but I owed you for the last time."

"You..." Shanma's temper flared, set off by the very calm and well centered way her opponent was implying that she was the weaker of them both. She decided to stop playing around herself and assumed a new position similar to a Riding Horse stance, but with clawed hands extended in a manner more typical of the classic Dragon posture.

For a moment nothing seemed to happen, but then the Amazon's lovely face assumed a fearsome snarl and she cried out as she gathered the power of the elements into her being, crossing her wrists in front of her as she drew in the POWER. Waves of force literally poured into her body, which became suffused with a sudden increase in her battle aura, flaring it to life so that the air around her glowed to a bright golden radiance, and her overall power levels were magnified to a degree far beyond the ordinary.

"Nice," Ganymede remarked while studying this transfiguration, "But I've learned a neat trick of my own...care to see it, Beautiful?"

Not waiting for a reply, the handsome youth struck a pose and raised a hand into the air, then called aloud, "JOVIAN POWER TRANSFORMATION!"

"Whoah!" Ranma shielded his brow, "Mega power boost, I wasn't counting on that!"

"Neither was Shanma," Shampoo murmured at his side, "This does not look too good..."

Mace could not believe his eyes as he watched Ganymede's school clothes dissolve for a brief moment, to be replaced instants later as a warrior's armored attire formed about the lean and muscular body of the young Kuonji. Ganymede seemed five times as impressive as before and even more poised and relaxed as Shanma charged up to her maximum and prepared to unleash the full wrath of her fury.

"Let's do this while we're still young, Babe," the transformed Warrior said calmly, "Take your best shot, I'm ready."

"Yeah, right!" Shanma scoffed, bringing her hands forward as she unleashed a full-scale Chi-blast in her opponent's direction.

Ganymede remained calm and poised as Mace flinched from the force of that blast, the Kuonji youth bringing two palms together and drawing them apart at the last second as a shimmering sword took form in the space between those hands. The youth raised the weapon in time to meet the blast as it struck full force, Shanma venting her emotions and battle spirit in one awesome display of channeling her internal power into a weapon.

For a moment no one dared look upon the scene as the explosive forces released kicked up a maelstrom of dust and debris in all directions that forced the onlookers to turn away until the shockwave had passed. When at last it was safe to look again they saw that Ganymede remained untouched while Shanma sank to her knees, having exhausted herself in that last discharge.

"Satisfied now?" Ganymede asked while lowering the tip of the sword to lightly touch against one of the furry cat-girl's slumped shoulders, "I took the best you had and I'm still standing, while you look like you could use a breather. This round goes to me, and the both of us know it."

Shanma slowly raised her eyes to regard the handsome youth before her, and then she fell to her knees, unable to rally enough spirit to dispute that calmly worded verdict.

"We both know that I could end this now," Ganymede declared before withdrawing the sword and causing it to vanish as mysteriously as it was summoned, "But I choose not to. This isn't the way that I want to conclude this. I want you accepting me of your own free will, and so I will refrain from pressing my advantage?"

"You...what?" Shanma asked weakly.

"It's not that I don't want to defeat you," Ganymede explained, "It's just that I don't believe that would be the way that I could claim your heart. I want you to accept me as I am without reservations, not just because of ancient tribal customs. That's the only way that I can truly be with you in earnest."

"But..." Shanma gasped, "You're not..."

"Not what?" Ganymede asked softly, "Go ahead and say it."

"You're not..." Shanma lowered her gaze, "...You're not a man...you can never be my husband."

"I know," Ganymede replied, "But I'm not really a woman either. That's why you were so upset with me before...I'm something other, neither fully man nor fully a woman."

"A hermaphrodite," Ranma murmured to himself, "Terrific."

"Oh, like you're in any position to talk?" Shampoo sniffed into his ear.

"Yeah, but I only switch between sexes when I get wet," Ranma replied, "I wasn't born with both parts, and like the kid says, that does make all the difference."

"Ganymede," Shanma did not look up from where she knelt, "You've gotten stronger...and...and I know you care about me...but..."

"But it freaks you out that I've got both male and female organs?" Ganymede replied, "Well...you don't need to let that issue concern you any further. I've found a way of working around that, and that means I can be both the Husband and Wife that you both need and desire."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Mace spoke up, "Where do you get off telling my sister who she's gonna marry? Just because you've learned a fancy trick to increase your power levels..."

"It's more than that, Kid," Ganymede said, "I know who I am now...or rather who I was before. I'm a whole new person now, and that's why I know what I want with your sister. Please don't try and get in the way...it's not your place to decide for her...and anyway, you're much too cocky."

"Who are you calling cocky?" Mace bared his claws and prepared to charge the transformed Hermaphrodite.

"Wait," Ganymede raised a hand in a pacifying gesture, "Before you rush to any conclusions, let me show you something else I can do. This one should interest you very much."

The youth raised his (or was that her?) hand and held out a medallion-like pendant, and with a single word activated the artifact, causing a second transformation, but one that affected more than just the outer form, Kuonji's body also changing to a stylish image that was somewhat smaller but had wider hips and a more well defined bustline. A Seifuku replaced the armor after a brief transition phase where Ganymede's body was revealed in all its naked glory, and then the youth stood erect once again, this time clearly female.

"Well," young Kuonji asked in a voice that was an octave higher than before, "What do you think? Is this an improvement?'

Shanma gaped in round-eyed wonder even as her brother stared with open disbelief, murmuring softly under his voice, "Whoah...major Babe City...!"

"So glad you like me this way, kid," the beautiful young girl flashed a smile his way before raising her arm once again, "But I have a third form that's also quite impressive."

She invoked the amulet once again, and once more her outward form was suffused with a strange energy, only now her form expanded and grew tall once again, hips narrowing and bustline flattering as shoulders broadened, and then the youth stood proud and quite evidently male, a fully male organ hanging between his legs before his naked body was clothed in an outfit that looked altogether princely.

"Now do I seem man enough for you?" Ganymede asked in a voice so deep and mellow that it left no doubt of his change in gender.

Shanma was staring in utter wonder, words failing her as she took in the pony-  
tailed boy before her.

"But...but how is this possible?" Mace voiced the question that she could not utter.

"I'll confess that your father was partially my inspiration for learning to alternate my gender," Ganymede replied, "But the actual effect comes from my learning to tap into the hidden power that I was born with. This Amulet is merely a symbol reflecting my self-identity...I created it to facilitate the change using the same power that allows my Mom to turn into her Senshi incarnation."

"But there's a heck of a difference between changing your sex and altering your costume!" Mace protested, getting more control over his own reactions.

"Is there?" Ganymede countered, "In her Senshi form my Mother's natural speed, strength and reaction time are magnified tenfold. It comes from the energies that all the Senshi tap into, an energy that's my natural birthright, and all I needed was to learn how to control it. The change is real, not an illusion, and it lasts as long as I can maintain the transformation. Otherwise I revert back to my true form, which is somewhere in between the polar extremes, the way I was born, which is the way you've always known me."

Ganymede lowered his chin and closed his eyes, his ruggedly handsome face relaxing and turning Bishonen again. His outer appearance briefly flickered, and then once more he became the softer, almost effeminate beauty he had been at the beginning.

"You...can change...like my father?" Shanma finally managed to get a grip over her own emotions.

"Yes," Ganymede replied, "Only I do it without the help of water...isn't that right, Mister Saotome?"

"Huh?" Ranma exclaimed as the youth turned and stared in his direction.

"Uh oh," Shampoo murmured, "I think we're busted, Airen."

"You can come out now," Ganymede raised his/her voice, "You should know by now that it's impossible to hide yourself from a Ninja."

"Why that cocky little..." Ranma stood up and leaped from the branch where he and his wife had been perched, followed in close order by Shampoo, who joined him as the two adults made their presence known in the clearing.

"Pop?" Mace reacted with amazement.

"Mom?" Shanma was no less startled, though she quickly shifted into a feral tone of outrage, "You were spying on us all this time?"

"Ah...well..." Ranma rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Your father was concerned, that's all," Ganymede regarded the Saotome elders, "Nor can I blame him for being protective of you, Shan-chan. Your parents have always had your best interests at heart, just the same as with my folks. After all, we made quite a ruckus, and it would have been surprising if they hadn't come to investigate, eh Mister Saotome?"

"Er...right," Ranma winced slightly, "You've got a lot of nerve going behind our backs to chase after our daughter, Kuonji. Just because you've figured out some new technique is no excuse for you to issue a Marriage challenge without goin' through proper channels."

"That's right," Shampoo agreed, "In spite of your profession of feelings towards our daughter, you can't just chase after her like a certain half-blind duck-boy I used to know used to chase after me..."

"I'm no stalker, Mrs. Saotome," Ganymede assured, "I won't be dogging Shan-  
chan's shadow looking to jump out and surprise her. I'm not that kind of guy and my parents raised me to have better manners than that."

"Hard to believe since your father is Ucchan," Ranma gave a sly look to his wife, then added, "Well...I guess I can't exactly blame you about wanting to put your best foot forward, but I'm afraid Shanma isn't interested. She's free to do as she liked, and I ain't standin' for her having to get married to some guy who thinks beating her up is qualifications for marriage."

"Oh, I don't know," Shampoo shared a sly look with towards her husband, "It did seem to me as though he defeated her rather decisively, and since he does technically qualify as a man...at least in some respects..."

"What?" Shanma reacted, "Mom, you can't be serious!"

"That's what I think, Kid," Ranma remarked, "But far be it from me to argue with your Mother, especially when it comes to those Amazon rules she's so fond about invoking."

"Didn't hear you complaining too loudly about those rules when it got the two of us engaged, Airen," Shampoo eyed him slyly.

"Gee, that's right," Ranma snapped his fingers, "Guess it did work out for us after all, do you think? Well, I don't know...you honestly think our daughter could be happy with a half-guy girl? I mean...even I think such a relationship might be unusual..."

"I'm sure you know what's best for her," Ganymede chuckled softly, "But you know I'd never do anything to harm or dishonor Shanma. I only came to make her aware of my many changes, and to let her know that it is finally possible for us to be together."

"Hey!" Mace protested, "Doesn't Oneechan get a choice about whether she wants to be a part of your schemes or not?"

"I was wondering if anyone was going to ask me that," Shanma grumbled with the slight trembling of an eyebrow.

"Up to you, kid," Ranma examined his hand as if inspecting his fingernails, "Won't stand in your way even if you want to hitch your wagon to a Kuonji. After all, you've known him just about all of your life, and his Pop's my best friend, so it's your call. Of course your mother might say different, and it's up to you if you want to do things her way..."

"Oh sure," Shampoo stage-whispered, "Throw the ball into my court and make me look like the bad guy."

"Better you than me, Kitty," Ranma chuckled before turning a sly grin towards Ganymede and adding, "But you gotta admit it takes guts for anybody to think they're good enough to marry a Saotome."

"Daaaad..." Shanma was beginning to get exasperated with both of her parental units, but before things could proceed any further a voice called down at them, "LOOKOUT-INCOMING!"

Ganymede had barely enough time to turn his face upward before he saw his field of vision being filled by the shapely form of a half-clad female. He reacted as swiftly as training would aloud to take a step back and spread his arms wide enough to catch the body that fell into his grasp, but the force was enough to overbalance both him and the girl whom he had rescued, and together they were stumbling backward and into the nearby river.

"Whoah..." Mace reacted, "What just happened?"

"Who's that?" Shampoo asked as Ganymede and the one whom he had caught disappeared momentarily under the water.

"You got me there, Sham-chan," Ranma murmured in a faint tone of wonder.

"Ganymede!" Shanma reacted with surprising concern in her voice, "Are you all-  
right...?"

Her belated petition was cut off as a pair of wings sprang up, breaking the surface of the river, and then a head and body joined them in full view as a beautiful golden-haired woman called out, "Oh man, that landing was such a bummer!"

"Gah!" Ganymede exclaimed as he, too, broke the surface, "What the hell just...?"

"Honsamu!" the girl cried in delight, throwing her arms around the hermaphrodite and declaring, "You saved me, Oniichan!"

"URK!" Shanma's expression went from concern to shocked amazement.

"Huh?" Ganymede seemed no less bewildered as he stared at the lovely girl clinging to his wet body.

"What in the heck...?" Mace exclaimed.

"Uh oh..." Ranma winced.

"He is so busted," Shampoo agreed, "This scenario seems so familiar..."

"Ganymede!" Shanma's feline face was pure furious wildcat, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing with her, you Baka?"

"Urk," Ganymede reacted, for the first time losing that confident air he had been manifesting, raising an arm as he cried, "ITSNOTWHATITLOOKSLIKE-!"

"Gee," Ranma said, "I wonder where I've heard that one before..."

"History repeats itself," Shampoo agreed, "Are you sure he's not a Saotome?"

"Huh?" the girl currently embracing Ganymede looked up at the snarling were-cat Amazon and said, "Shamra? What are you doing here? And what are you upset about all of a sudden?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT AM I UPSET ABOUT, YOU HUSSY!" the cat-girl all but exploded.

"I'm just saying hi to my Big Brother," the new arrival replied with a mildly puzzled expression, "And what business is it of yours what I do with Honsamu anyway? It's not like you've ever been interested enough to give him the time of day..."

"HUH?" was the collective response of everyone present, including Shanma and an equally confused Ganymede.

"Excuse me?" Ganymede asked, "What did you just call me?"

"Geez, you hit your head on a rock or something?" the girl let him go and stood up, flexing her wings to lend her some support as she waded back onto the shore, "Uncle Ranma, what's everybody acting so ditzed out all of a sudden? I know I kinda fudged the landing this time, but it's not like it's my fault. They sent me to these coordinates, and I can't exactly be blamed if they screwed it up and had me appear above dry ground...okay, make that a river..."

"Excuse me?" Ranma regarded the winged girl with obvious confusion.

"Do you mean to say you know us?" Shampoo added for him.

"Know you?" the girl made a rude noise, even as she flapped her wings a couple of times to dry off her feathers, "What kind of a question is that? I'm Kuonji Kinko, Honsamu's younger sister..."

"SAY WHAT?" came the gasps from all around her.

"Kuonji Kinko?" Mace exclaimed, "You've gotta be kidding!"

The girl-who now more than ever resembled an Angel for her winged status-  
walked over to the boy (who was nearest to her own apparent age) and brought her fist down on his head in what seemed almost a playful manner.

"Excuse me, Mace-head, but I wasn't talking to you, and we're not exactly on speaking terms at the moment, remember?" she ignored the complaints of the cat-  
boy, who was rubbing his head and cursing about "Violent Maniac Tomboys" as she turned to address herself to his sister, "What's the deal here? You guys are obviously on a training mission, but I haven't been away that long, have I? Forgetting about people is rude, and since when has anyone ever given you permission to chase after my Oniichan, Shanra?"

"Say what?" Shanma reacted, "What did you just call me?"

"It sounds similar to your name," Ranma murmured as he stroked his chin, "In fact...that was the name I thought about calling you until Pop convinced me that our firstborn should go with tradition..."

"And what's wrong with Shanma, I ask?" Shampoo eyed him in an arched manner.

"Ah..." the Saotome elder seemed to consider the point as if realizing that any way he chose to answer might not reflect well upon him, or on his chances for survival.

"Wait a minute..." Ganymede waded out onto shore, "What makes you think that you're my little sister...and why do you keep calling me Handsome?"

"Don't you play dumb with me, Honsamu," the winged girl snorted, "I'll tell Nauru on you if you keep on teasing me..."

"That's not his name, you ditz!" Mace spoke up with some fierceness, "That's Ganymede, and unlike you, he really is a Kuonji!"

"Let me see if I get this straight," Ranma held up a hand as though to call for a time-out, "You know us but we've never seen you before, young lady..."

"Although," Shampoo mused, "Come to think of it she does remind me a little of Europa..."

"My little sister?" Ganymede reacted, then blinked his eyes before adding, "Uh...now that you mention it...there is a slight resemblance..."

"Europa?" the winged girl blinked her eyes, "What kind of name is that?"

"Actually," Shampoo resumed, "With those wings she seems more like Akane's daughter, Sheba..."

"Hey, you're right," Ranma said, "I was going to mention it, but I didn't know the Tomboy had any other daughters."

"Sheba?" the winged girl seemed more bewildered than ever, "No way! My name is Kinko...oh...oh...uh-oh...no way..."

"Huh?" Mace frowned, "What's your problem?"

"Oh no," the girl grew pale, "It can't be...no way! They wouldn't have done that to me...it stinks! And after I trusted them to get me back home to my own dimension!"

"What are you talking about?" Shanma asked, now thoroughly puzzled.

"Those Jerks!" the winged girl fumed, "Those incompetent Morons! They were supposed to send me back to the right time coordinates, not screw things up by putting me back on another parallel Earth! I ought to get a lawyer and sue them!"

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder all the time," Ranma shook his head in dismay.

"Tell me about it," Shampoo sympathized, "I wish Nabiki were here...she's better at sorting these things out than we are."

"Yeah, no kidding," Ranma silently nodded.

"What the hell are you rambling on about?" Mace fumed.

"Look guys," Kinko turned to them all with total seriousness in her expression, "What I'm gonna tell you is gonna sound Nuts, but you've gotta believe me! I wish Aunt Nabiki were here too, or at the very least, Kachima..."

"You know about Kachima?" Ganymede wondered.

"Sure I know all about them!" Kinko all but shouted, "We're practically family..." she paused to take a deep breath, then sighed, "Okay...I know this is gonna take some doing for you guys to accept, but has anybody here ever watched Star Trek?"

Blinking eyes, followed by raised hands, were the non-verbal response to that question.

"Okay," Kinko continued, "Assuming they ran as many incarnations of the show on your world as on mine, you remember the episode where Kirk and the others were trapped on a parallel dimension where everything was topsy turvy and instead of a Federation there was this Evil pirate empire?"

Nodding heads greeted her question.

"Okay," Kinko resumed, "This isn't that bad...but it's close enough from where I'm standing. You see...there are an infinite number of parallel worlds where things happen differently depending on the choices people make on those worlds, whether to turn to the right or the left, to marry one person or another, like if Uncle Ranma here married somebody other than his two wives, Shampoo and Nabiki."

"Me...married to somebody else?" Ranma blinked, then snorted, "Never happen."

"Don't be so sure about that," Kinko snorted, "I've met parallel Saotome kids who had Aunt Kodachi or my own Fama for their mother, not to mention more brothers and sisters than I can shake a pair of Nunchuks at, and a couple of those wound up screwing me...ah-well...never mind about that..."

"Say what?" Ganymede reacted.

"Look..." Kinko turned to the boy beside her and said, "I'm sorry I mistook you for Honsamu, but you look a lot like my actual brother. You must be my brother of this world, only I can tell there's something different about you..."

"That's putting it mildly," Mace snorted.

"My mother and Fama are named Akane and Ukyo," Kinko resumed, pointedly ignoring the interruption, "Do I take it you've got a different Mom than mine?"

"Aunt...Akane...?" Ganymede blinked his eyes, "My mother's name is Makoto!"

"Aunt Makoto?" Kinko's eyes grew wide, "Hooboy...Aunt Minako ain't gonna like that..."

"Wait a second," Ranma urged, "Go back to that part about me having a kid by Kodachi...?"

"And Ukyo," Shampoo added with a very arched expression turned towards her husband.

"It's parallel Earth stuff," Kinko insisted, "Different choices, different conditions, like on some place where Aunt Kasumi and Kodachi don't have a nutso daughter named Kusariboru..."

"You got one of those too?" Mace's eyes widened, then he paused before adding, "Who's Nauru?"

"It would take too long to go into details," Kinko said, "But my guess is that our worlds are close parallels to one another, and that somebody..." she turned an arched expression towards the heavens, "Made a mistake with the coordinates when they were sending me home and dropped me on a close parallel of my world, just a few clicks over in probability lines where my Fama married Tendo Akane."

"Yeah, I can almost see that," Ranma nodded, "For a while there Ucchan and the Tomboy were pretty close..."

"They almost did wind up engaged together, if I remember things right," Shampoo added.

"So on my world you have a daughter named Shamra," Kinko hooked a thumb at Shanma, "Some people even gave her the weird knick-name of Shamrock, even though her hair is purple, not green..."

"Shamrock?" Mace suddenly seemed to take great amusement in the concept.

"Not another word, Little Bro," Shanma growled, "If you want to stay healthy."

"I think I get it now," Ganymede mused, "There are an infinite number of parallel worlds, and you've obviously come from one where things are slightly different from on this world. That means, in a way, that you are my sister...at least on my Father's side of the bedsheets."

"A pity that she has a brother just like you," Shanma groused, "But the me of that world must have better taste in boyfriends..."

"By which do I imply that you consider me your boyfriend?" Ganymede asked with a teasing expression.

The cat-girl made an obscene hand gesture, then frowned all the more as she heard the Kuonji youth reply, "You wish."

"So if you're from some other world, how did you wind up here?" Mace asked, "Slumming?"

"I got sucked into a Quest, Dummy," Kinko eyed him like she wanted to scrape him off the pavement, "I helped defend the Multiverse for the sake of idiots like you, only it was supposed to be over after we destroyed the Shogun of the Dark and took that brief sleepover at the House of the Miroku."

"This does sound like the sort of quest we often get drawn into," Ranma mused, "What do you think, Kitty?"

"I think we definitely do need to get in touch with Nabiki," Shampoo replied with a sigh, "Looks like this training trip is officially over."

"There'll be others," her husband assured her, wondering why he felt a peculiar prickling along his spine when he said this...

Roll Call:

Sayo Sanosuke Hiroshi Honsamu

Continuum #47512936

"Are you enjoying the tea, Sayo-san?" asked Daisuke.

"Yes, Vice-Principal," Sayo replied after sipping her tea and cradling it on her lap, "An excellent brew, very different from what I was used to in Kyoto."

"So that's where you've been living?" asked Maki as he set his own tea to one side, "Interesting..."

"What do you mean, sir?" Sayo asked.

"Just that Kyoto's the traditional home for your school of Kendo, the Hijiro Mitsuba Ryu," the big man mused as he considered the young girl who was currently receiving very odd looks from a surprisingly nervous Hiroshi, "Hiko Seijiro is also the traditional name of the man who teaches the art...or is supposed to have trained practitioners of your style for many generations. Some people even say he's Immortal..."

"I would not know about such things, sir," Sayo replied, turning to regard Daisuke, "What can you tell me about my parents, Vice-Principal?"

"Quite a lot, actually," Daisuke replied, "Your father was my best friend for a number of years...in fact I was on the periphery of a number of his adventures, so I got to witness things first-hand that most people wouldn't even believe."

"You make him sound like some sort of local legend," Hiroshi spoke up, not meaning to sound as cynical as he was feeling.

"Around here he is," Daisuke mused as he studied the young beauty sitting across from him at the tea table, "But so was your mother, Tendo Kasumi. She was a master of Kendo when she was about your age...a bright and very well mannered girl, if a bit...well...sheltered is one way of putting it, as in the opposite of worldly..."

"In what way?" Sayo asked with the most unfeigned of innocent expressions.

"Er...never mind," Daisuke tactfully skirted around the question, "Let's just say that she was a very special person who never harbored an ill word or unkind thought towards anybody. She learned fencing from her mother before she died and trained for several years under a family friend named Saotome Nodoka, the mother of her future husband. She also took care of her family when her father became too emotionally distressed over his loss to manage his own affairs in a competent manner. She was quite an extraordinary person, which is why it probably comes as no surprise that she would lead a fairy tale existence, especially when she met her Prince Charming."

"My father you mean?" Sayo asked rather politely.

"Saotome Ranma," Daisuke smiled in a way that was altogether wistful, "Heir to the Anything Goes school of Unarmed Grappling...a fancy way of saying that he was the best damned martial artist to ever grace this humble district. He swept into her life on an arranged engagement after her two younger sisters gracelessly bowed out. Nabiki was too much an aspiring young Salary-woman to want to be tied down with romantic interests, while Akane..." he sighed, "Everyone in our school knew she only had eyes for other women...everyone except a certain young Lord of the House of Tendo, who also-curiously enough-was Ranma's principle suitor for the hand of the fair Kasumi. Kuno lost a match to her and never could forgive the blow to his ego, so he used to come around the Tendo place and challenge Kasumi to a series of rematches until Ranma put a stop to things good and proper."

"My father sounds like a worthy heir to the spirit of the Samurai," Sayo noted.

"Oh, don't get me wrong about that," Daisuke chuckled, "Your father was far from perfect and hardly an angel, but he had his own crude notions of chivalry and he didn't like the idea of some rich kid picking fights with women, and not just those he was engaged to, which-thanks to his less-than-fully-honorable father-  
-means more than a handful of other women battled it out for the title of 'Official Fiancee to Ranma.'"

"Excuse me?" Maki asked, "You're saying this kid had more than one fiancee?"

"To put it mildly, yes," Daisuke smiled before sipping his tea again, "It wasn't his choice, of course. Ranma wasn't the kind of guy who felt comfortable having more than one woman in his life, and he almost never chased them...more like it was the other way around. We used to tease him about that, mainly because we were jealous as hell, the other boys in our class, accusing Ranma of deliberately hogging all the cute girls in Nerima. Just about any one of us would have given an important vital organ just for the privilege of spending a single night of passion with someone like that Amazon, Shampoo or a few of the other mega-babes who came a calling after Ranma. Of course the baka never took advantage of his situation or he could have had any red-blooded man's dream of multiple women sharing his bed. He had a lot of charisma, and a lot of girls in our class thought he was a pretty nice guy, if a bit crude and unmannered."

"You mean a gentleman in spite of himself?" Maki translated.

"If by 'gentleman' you mean the kind of guy who would put your lights out for looking at him funny," Daisuke corrected, "Actually that's not really fair...Ranma almost never used his superior skills to deliberately inflict harm on anyone who was unable to fight back. He didn't have to threaten anybody...we all just knew that it was not exactly a healthy idea to wind up on his bad side. Amazing what a nice guy he was in spite of having such a louse for a father."

"You didn't like his father?" Hiroshi asked.

"Almost nobody did," Daisuke replied, "Saotome Genma was the kind of guy who would promise his son's hand in marriage for a bowl of rice and a pickle. He once even threw a ten-year-old Ranma into a pit of starving cats after wrapping him in fish sausages so he could teach his son a dangerous martial art technique known as the Cat Fist..."

"Urk!" Hiroshi paled, wondering if the late Saotome's father had anything else in common with his own Master Gusepei.

"How horrible," Sayo sounded genuinely appalled, "And you say this man was my grandfather?"

"I wish I could tell you different," Daisuke replied, "On the other hand most of us thought Ranma was maybe adopted, so you could be off the hook there. Fact is that Ranma learned the technique but was afraid of cats and could only use the Fist when he was in a berserker state of mind induced by the presence of cats. That was the sort of training that Ranma endured for ten long years before arriving in Nerima, and the fact that he even survived that long-not to mention was as sane as he was-is a testament to his resilience. Kami-sama, how I miss him..." the Vice Principal sighed, "Life was so much more interesting when he was around...I'm so glad to meet you...it brings back the nostalgia."

"Oh," Sayo raised an eyebrow and seemed somewhat less than comfortable for the moment.

"So, explain to me about this arranged marriage to Tendo Kasumi," Maki asked, "Why was that one different than all the other engagements arranged by his father?"

"Because it was the only one that Ranma ever seemed to take seriously," Daisuke replied, "The other girls...well...they were a mixed lot and highly competitive, but Kasumi was the only one who never pressured or made any demands on him. She wasn't that sort of a person, she was just...nice...very thoughtful and open minded. Ranma had this...rather unique problem, you see, one that made him different from other guys our age, but Kasumi never minded his curse and even came to love him in both of his incarnations."

"Incarnations?" Hiroshi repeated.

"Ah...never mind," Daisuke waved the point aside, "It would take too long to explain. Let's just say that Ranma was...unique and leave it at that..."

"What, did he grow tentacles or have an extra appendage or something?" Maki asked.

"Nothing so crude or unsightly," Daisuke assured, "In fact most of us never even thought of it as a curse. We thought it was weird for a while, but we got used to it and came to regard his condition as just part of the whole Saotome package."

"But what was it?" Hiroshi persisted.

"Like I said," Daisuke shook his head from side to side, "You'd never believe it if I told you."

"That sounds somewhat familiar," Maki noted.

"But you did not mind being his friend," Sayo noted, "So obviously you were never troubled by my father's condition?"

"Ah...I wouldn't say that," Daisuke winced slightly, "I did sort-of have a problem...but it wasn't really his fault, and Ranma...well...he'd have cleaned my clocks if I ever even hinted that I thought about his problem in...that sort of manner."

"What," Maki chuckled, "Did he spontaneously change into a girl or something?"

"What?" Daisuke's eyes widened, "How did you...?"

"I'm joking," Maki made a calming gesture, "Actually you wouldn't believe the sort of things I see on my job, so I've probably cornered the market on weirdness."

"Uh-huh," the Vice-Principal said dubiously, "Remind me not to ask what you do for a living."

"Tell me how my parents died," Sayo asked, calmly setting aside her tea and giving Daisuke the most sobering expression.

The Vice-Principal glanced down at the table, "We don't know that they are dead...it's just a feeling we have on account of the things that happened right before they disappeared from Nerima."

"What did happen?" Hiroshi wondered.

"A lot of things...some relevant, some coincidental," Daisuke replied, "The upshot of it was that this guy moved into Nerima who was bad news in every respect. The man had connections...in fact he's the current Oyabun for the whole region of Furinkan and Nerima..."

"The Yakuza?" Maki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You've met one of the young up-and-coming bucks from his outfit," Daisuke noted, "That young buck whose jaw you dislocated, young lady...he's none other than the son of one of their more prominent lieutenants. Just so you know...there could be trouble from the department."

"I understand that his father might not be too happy about the way things turned out," Sayo replied, "But he gave me little choice in the matter."

"I know," Daisuke replied, "And from where I sit I applaud you. Those punks have turned life in our school upside down, roughing up students and causing all sorts of problems. Long since time they had their comeuppance, but I'm just saying that you should consider avoiding making yourself a target. That's how your father got into the mess he did when he met a Chinese boy named Taro, who's currently the lieutenant to the Oyabun whom I just mentioned."

"But not by name," Maki frowned, "Maybe I should have a talk with this Taro character. He sounds like bad news..."

"Oh he is," Daisuke shook his head and shuddered faintly, "He's a walking nightmare...and there's nothing he enjoys more than inflicting pain on anyone who even looks at him cross eyed. I don't know what it is you do for a living..."

"I'm a software distributor," Maki replied, "I market and sell the latest game packages for a Tokyo-based conglomerate."

"And you just happen to carry a side-arm shaped like a small industrial cannon?" Daisuke asked, then waved the point away, "None of my business, I just think you ought to forget about meeting up with Taro because he finds you and then you have a very bad day. Guy doesn't even use a piece, bare handed he's more dangerous than an army."

"Are you saying the Taro guy made her father and mother disappear?" Hiroshi asked, flashing a glance towards Sayo, who returned his glance, then abruptly looked elsewhere.

"I'm not saying that he did," Daisuke replied, "But I'm saying that it's possible. Taro was just about the only man who ever beat Saotome Ranma in a fair fight, mainly because he wasn't above using any unfair trick in his arsenal. All I know is that it was after Taro arrived on the scene that bad things seemed to happen to the Tendos. One day Ranma and Kasumi just seemed to up and vanish, and everyone thought they must have eloped together to avoid...certain complications. Her father continued living at his house until a few months ago, when he...died...under less than pleasant circumstances."

Sayo's eyes became unnaturally focused once again, "How did my grandfather perish?"

"That's the really strange thing," Daisuke averted his gaze from meeting her stare, "Nobody knows really. He was found without a mark on his body, the coroner ruled it a heart attack. Only..."

"Yes?" Maki probed with an unusual intensity in his own expression.

"It was the expression on his face," Daisuke shuddered once again, "Like he'd been literally frightened to death. Mister Tendo was a very emotional sort of man, but proud and stubborn, and he refused to sell his house even when there was pressure brought to bear on him..."

"Pressure?" Hiroshi questioned.

"A real estate developer has been buying up property all around the district," Daisuke explained, "And when Mister Tendo refused to consider the rather generous offer that they made him...well...we all pretty much assumed that his death was somehow related. Wouldn't put it past this company to have the Yakuza be their strong arm for seeing that everybody cooperated. The thing is...they didn't wind up with the property after all...turns out it was given years ago to Saotome Ranma as a wedding present, and without proof that your father is no longer alive..."

"The property then goes to his surviving daughter," Maki noted as he turned to regard Sayo.

"I see," the samurai girl said softly, "So what you are implying is that my grandfather was murdered for his land, and I am his successor. That explains why my Master handed me the deed before informing me of his existence and demise. Thank you very much, that answers a good many of my remaining questions."

She started to get up, which caused Hiroshi to look at her and ask, "Where are you going?"

"I go to find the man who may have murdered my father," Sayo replied as she slipped her sword back into her sash.

"With only a sword?" Maki lifted an eyebrow, "No offense, but the Yakuza use guns these days...you do know about firearms, right?"

"I know what they are and what they can do," Sayo replied, "What about it?"

"ARE YOU NUTS?" Hiroshi was on his feet in an instant, "Do you have any idea what they could do to you if they catch you? You've all but painted a target on your chest if they find out you have the deed to your grandfather's property! Besides, carrying swords in public is illegal..."

To his surprise the girl unsheathed her sword, then held it up for his inspection, revealing a most surprising feature.

"Well I'll be," Maki remarked, "A Sakaba blade."

"Say what?" Hiroshi stared in disbelief at the weapon, "Why is the blade on the inside of the curve...?"

"That's what a Sakaba is," Daisuke explained, "They're meant to be peaceful weapons used only in self defense. If I guess right that blade there is over a hundred years old and dates to just around the end of the Edo era and it used to belong to one of the greatest swordsman who ever lived, Himura Kenshin, the last of the Hitokiri."

"I do not know such things," Sayo replied as she resheathed her weapon, "I am told it once belonged to a master of our Ryu who refused the title of Hiko Seijiro. Beyond that I only know that it has served me well since my master first gave it to me."

"But why is the blade on the inside?" Hiroshi restated his earlier question.

"Because I am sworn never to kill without cause," Sayo replied, "I may only take a human life when circumstances absolutely mandate it. The dull edge can disable an opponent without killing them. It serves me well in my function as a Rurounin."

"I understand what you're saying," Maki said, "And I even can respect your intentions, but to go alone up against the Yakuza..."

"Honor compels that I must do this," Sayo replied, "I will go to my grandfather's house and see that no one dishonors his memory. If they wish to find me there, then I will ask one of them where I may find their Oyabun."

"You're nuts!" Hiroshi declared as the girl started to turn away from him to take her leave of the office, and out of impulse he reached out for her arm and spun her about to look at him directly, "You want to get yourself killed? Is that how you want your family line to end? Is that how you choose to honor your parents?"

"And what would you have me do?" Sayo asked as she met his stare without flinching, "Abandon the path of honor?"

Hiroshi did not reply to that, indeed for the next several minutes no words passed at all between the both of them as they locked eyes in a battle of wills, the girl staring up into the young man's eyes with clear regard in her blue eyes that left the boy feeling light-headed and dizzy, as if her gaze were in some manner hypnotic.

"Okay," Maki could not help allowing a fatherly smirk to touch his face, "I've got a feeling I know where this is headed..."

"Just like Ranma and Kasumi," Daisuke marveled, "The day they met it was as if fate had stepped in and tied their karma together."

"I do not believe in fate," Sayo said faintly, "I believe we make our own destinies..."

"You think so?" Hiroshi responded in words that seemed oddly distant, as if he were only half-aware that he had even spoken.

"I...must go..." Sayo spoke with an odd hesitation in her voice, though she remained motionless and made no actual attempt to break eye contact.

"Please stay," Hiroshi spoke with more resolve, even a hint of urgency in his voice, when all of a sudden his light-headedness became complete vertigo, as if the room was swimming all around him.

"How...odd..." Sayo voiced in a wondering manner as she too experienced a kind of peculiar dislocation.

"What the...?" Maki sat upright and stared at his son and newly acquired girlfriend, wondering if his own senses were playing a trick on the Black Guard or if-as it indeed appeared-that the two young people were turning translucent and fading out before his eyes while the room remained unchanging.

"My thoughts exactly," Daisuke blinked his eyes and then the young couple utterly vanished, "What in the name of everything that is holy...?"

"Holiness may not have anything to do with it," Maki drew his huge side-arm and scanned the room, but no obvious threats materialized, so he got up and came to stand in the space where his son and Sayo had vanished.

"Damn," he muttered softly, "I don't believe this!"

"Not again," Daisuke voiced in hollow dismay, "This is just like the old days when weird things like this used to happen around Saotome!"

"Don't give me that," Maki's friendly, outgoing manner turned hard, "Are you saying that you've seen things happen like this before?'

"Never a complete fade-out, no," the Vice-Principal answered, "But all kinds of unexplained phenomenon went on when Saotome was in Nerima. It's got to be a family curse or something...lord knows that family had enough of them to begin with!"

"I'd better get someone from my office to come down here and take a look," Maki frowned, "You don't mind that, do you?"

"Hell, call anyone you like," Daisuke, "Call an exorcist, or anything, it won't make a damned bit of difference if the Kami decide to play around with a Saotome. I'm just sorry your son had to get involved this early."

"Me too," Maki sighed, knowing in his gut that the girl was probably innocent of whatever had caused the two teenagers to utterly vanish. In tones of dread he murmured, "My wife is gonna kill me and suck my soul for this...and I won't even begin to speculate what Master Gusepei will have in store for me. Oh well...who wants to live forever?"

And with that philosophical note in mind he touched his wrist telephone and hit the speed-dial...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Hermaphrodites Anonymous: shadowmane

One by one the players are being gathered from the fringes, but is the cause a friend or foe to the children of the future, and can they indeed become the Masters of their fate...or are they doomed to be submissives? Tune in next time for: "Fist of the North Star Back-Handed," or "There is Doom and Gloom when Things go Boom in Washu's Lab!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works.  



	5. Chapter 5

RanCubed04

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the Works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi,  
Ryde Tsukimono and lots of others)

Chapter Four.

Rock and Ruins

Continuity # 92684713

Roll Call:

Wanda Kenshiro -Adopted Heir to the Fist of the North Star Ryu Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Mosquiton and Inaho Hitomabori, 1/8th Vampyr Efreet Mitsuhara -Adopted daughter of Makoto Mitsuhara and Ifurita, Demon-  
God Ryoma Saotome -Son of Ranma and Ukyo Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes Ryu Tachi Kuno -Son of Tatewaki and Nabiki Kuno, heir to the Nampo Kendo Ryu Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Konatsu and Shampoo Kenzan, practicing Wicca Minos Taro -Son of Pantsaru and Akane Taro, former friend to Ryoma

Something her adopted Uncle had once told Wanda came back to haunt her in her meditations, words she had never fully understood before now, "Never work with kids and small animals, they tend to upstage you."

The reason for her thinking this had to do with the child whom she had recently saved in the village, who was now looking up at her with obvious signs of hero adoration.

"Can I get you anything, Wanda-sama?" she was presently asking, the hopefulness in her face so achingly pure that Wanda felt disinclined to tell the child to mind her own business.

"Some water, thank you," Wanda replied after a long study of the dirty-faced urchin, not so much because she was thirsty but that giving the child something to do seemed the only favorable way of dealing with the situation.

Ilea leaped at the chance to earn her rescuer's praise by running off happily, almost skipping along as she sought out the village well, which was at the center of town and contained the most precious resource guarded zealously by her people. Wanda watched her leave, puzzled by the child's energy and resilience, thinking how near the young girl had come to being brutally shot in the back by the raiders. To see her now you would never know how near her village had come to being wiped completely off of the map had Wanda not arrived when she had to send those raiders packing, killing only a few to make a good impression.

Had she ever been that young and energetic? Wanda could not remember a time when her heart had been as light or a smile had come so freely unbidden to her lips. In fact smiling itself was an exercise she rarely indulged, being totally immersed in a different sort of training that employed her body as a weapon capable mainly of inflicting death and destruction. It was the path she walked in this world, and a destiny that was not regretted. Her adopted Uncle had taught her what she needed to know in order to stay alive in the harsh world left by her forefathers. He had molded her in his image, and charged her to be this world's protector, a role she now fulfilled with no regrets, only absolute conviction.

In truth she did not even know who she truly was or what her name had been at the time of her birth. Her uncle rarely mentioned her mother and father, other than to say that her father was a great warrior and a good friend who died fighting evil on behalf of his loved ones. Wanda often wondered about the sort of man her father must have been, or the woman that her mother surely was, and what they must think of her now whenever they peered down from heaven and watched the adventures of their only daughter.

Wanda had never truly appreciated what a handful she must have been for her Uncle if she were anything like the precocious sprite who came eagerly back within a few moments cradling a metal pitcher full of water in her hands as though she were carrying a precious treasure (which, technically, she was since clean water in their polluted world was more rare than gold and even more fiercely fought over). She presented the pitcher to Wanda with both hands as though she were paying tribute to a Warlord, or perhaps paying homage to a goddess. Wanda accepted the pitcher with a faintly troubled expression, not certain how to respond to the worshipful expression of this young girl whose life she had spared. It was not as if Wanda had ever considered herself to be any type of role model.

Just the opposite, in fact. She had chosen to be baptized in the fire and blood of her Uncle's Ryu, the Fist of the Northstar. She had stained her soul with death and destruction to the wicked and the guilty so that those innocents with hearts as pure as these could live normal, untroubled lives. Her people scavenged on the ruins of the civilization destroyed by the Great Wasting, the scattered cities of the damned whose treasures were buried in garbage dumps that were unearthed for their hidden bounty. The Ancients were said to be wealthy and powerful beyond imagination, and so Wanda supposed that it must be true when considering how easily they threw away as scrap the things that people clung to for their livelihood in the modern era. It was barely even an existence in Wanda's rather jaded opinion, and yet it was all these people had for survival. Survival was important to the children of the present world, and if they were ever to build back from the ruins they would need the belief of the Innocent that their world could be made better. Children like Ilea were the reason that Wanda had for existing, beyond carrying on the traditions of her school to another as-yet-unborn generation.

To Raiders such as those whom she preyed upon, villagers like Ilea existed only to be victimized, their hard-won goods despoiled as plunder. Raiders cared little for the world or for anything but their own ruthless survival, and as such they needed someone to put the fear of the Gods into their hearts...someone like Wanda, the current Fist of the Northstar. To her it was children such as Ilea who were truly the heroes, while Wanda was just the cleaning woman taking out the trash. It took real courage for someone so small and helpless to nurture even faint hopes that their world might have a future.

And that made Wanda consider the differences in herself from this child, how much she had been changed by her training for the innocent girl that she might at one time have been. Standing at over two hundred and five centimeters, weighing close to one-hundred-thirty kilograms, she stood out from the women of their world in more than one sense of the matter, being a true child of the Wasting and more deadly than any mere mutant.

The discipline of her school had reshaped the pathways of nerve and muscle within Wanda and caused such dramatic changes in her body that affected the flow of her Chi and gave her a resilience like iron. She absorbed elemental energies into her being and saturated each cell of her body with tremendous amounts of concentrated life energy and-in effect-no longer even classified as human by the normal reckoning of such matters. Her skill in her training had been honed to such effect that she was literally a walking engine of destruction whose hands and feet were as lethal as any cannon. There was virtually nothing in this world that she truly had cause to fear, walking in the shadow as living death personified, the ruin and doom of any foe who crossed her path or even looked at her cross-eyed.

It was not that Wanda hated being different...she was used to it, and in fact she reveled in the fact that her enemies were forever underestimating her abilities. It was just that sometimes she wondered what it was that she was missing out on when she saw other women holding hands or sharing intimacies with the people who meant the most to them on a personal level. Wanda would not trade being as helpless and fragile for the advantages of a home life, but there were times when she had cause to wonder if such a life could ever belong to her with someone significant who could accept her for who and what she was. Most people were intimidated by the very sight of her, and those few who were not usually turned out to be the kind of Raider Scum whom she would wind up killing. Such a thing did not bode well for any thought that she might have of bearing a child and passing along her knowledge to another generation.

She had a duty to her Ryu, after all, and if she perished unfulfilled then the School of the North Star would perish with her. Her uncle's passing in the previous year had taught her that even a Master of their techniques could be mortal, so the mere fact that she had yet to meet her equal did not, in fact, imply that she would never run into someone just a little bit tougher than herself. Dying she did not actually fear all that much, it was dying without having truly ever been alive that haunted her meditations. If only she had a mere fleck of Ilea's jubilant optimism then she might have hopes about her future...but lacking this all she could do was to concentrate her energies and continue surviving within the present.

It was even as she was making this resolve that she felt a trembling in the air, which caused her to lift her head and sniff at the wind, which was telling her that something monumental was about to happen.

"My lady?" Ilea asked as she caught sight of Wanda's troubled expression.

"We are about to have visitors," Wanda murmured aloud, sensing a massive power reading that just simply appeared on the horizon from out of no where. It was a strange sort of reading...alive and yet not quite fully human...and accompanied by several lesser life signatures of significant intensity. Such a thing could not be allowed to pass unnoticed, so she excused herself and rose to her feet, making her apologies to the Lord and Lady of the hut that was presently offering her shelter, explaining only that she wanted to properly greet these new arrivals...

"Where the (EXPLITIVE DELETED) are we?" Carmine swore as she turned and looked from one side to the other.

"You got me," Ryoma responded, "But off hand I'd say we're not in Kansai..."

"You're right, we're not," Efreet pursed her lips and seemed thoughtful, "Global Geomagnetic positioning suggests that we're still in Nerima...but...doesn't look like any part of the suburbs that I remember seeing from the air..."

"You can sense your position?" Tachi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course," Efreet said matter-of-factly, "I'm a Demon-Goddess, we have to know these things when we're flying from one part of the world to the other."

"I'm getting very disturbing readings from these stone edifices," Tarot remarked with a troubled expression, turning belatedly to regard the hovering Efreet, "Er...when you say that you're a Demon-Goddess...you don't actually mean you...?"

"Oh no," Efreet giggled pleasantly, "I'm not really a Demon or a Goddess, but that's what they call me back on the world where I was manufactured. My parents found and adopted me a long time ago, so now I'm just a perfectly normal girl..."

"A normal girl?" Ryoma raised an eyebrow, calling attention to the fact that said "normal girl" was floating in the air with her feet about a meter above the level of the ground.

"Your parents found and adopted you?" Tarot blinked her eyes, "And what do you mean you were manufactured?"

"Er...well..." Carmine winced, "To tell the truth, my friend...has a somewhat unusual background..."

"Do tell," Tachi said with a certain interest, "Do you prefer to levitate rather than stand?"

"Oh yeah," Efreet cheerfully replied, "It's easier for me than walking...just as long as Carmine keeps my spring wound."

"Your...spring?" Tachi raised the other eyebrow.

"Ah..." Carmine realized this conversation was headed in a direction that she did not like and hastily moved to change the subject, "Look, has anybody got some idea just why we're standing in the middle of these ruins and not a school yard?"

"Good question," Ryoma glanced around, "It's not exactly the ordinary change of scenery that you get used to living in Nerima, but..."

"SAOTOME, NOW YOU DIE!"

Without missing a beat the handsome boy swerved his body to one side even as the hulking Minos came bearing down upon him, the taller boy missing his target and stumbling off balance, leaving the perfect opening as Ryoma completed his arc while drawing his baker's peel and delivering it to the back of his assailant's head in one very smooth and well-practiced motion. The larger Minos went down like a felled tree and proceeded to groan loudly about his head ringing like a school bell. Ryoma smoothly slung his weapon across his back with hardly a change in expression as if this sort of interruption was not a unique occurrence.

"Like I was saying," the Bishonen boy resumed, "...this isn't the way that one usually expects to go from one place to another, but I suspect a spell was involved, possibly very strong magic. Any ideas there, Tarot-dono?"

The blue haired girl smiled pleasantly and replied, "Since you ask, Ryo-chan, I did feel something happening to us in the moment before this happened...a convergence of energy-fields centered around out general location, but it did not feel quite like a spell such as my Sensei would cast if she wanted to send us from one point to the other. Also too there is a very unwelcome feeling in the air that makes my skin crawl like a bad case of hives. Wherever this is, I do not think we should tarry here for long in the open. I suggest we remove ourselves to shelter as soon as possible..."

"Good call," Ryoma nodded, "Tachi, help me lift Minos, we might as well drag the baka with us."

"Do we have to?" Tachi pouted, then sighed, "All right, but just because you asked so nicely..."

"Why don't you let me carry him?" Efreet asked, "I don't mind."

"You can do that?" Tarot asked her.

"Sure," the levitating girl replied, unslinging her key-staff once again and pointing the business end at the semi-conscious Minos, and all at once the larger boy lifted off the ground and hovered by a meter.

"Whoah," murmured Tachi, who was obviously impressed.

"Nice trick," Ryoma remarked with a lifted eyebrow.

"It's just canceling out gravity and fixing him in a perfectly ordinary tractor field," Efreet replied before adding in a more dubious tone of voice, "Ah...where did you say we should be taking him?"

"Good point," Carmine sheltered her sensitive eyes against the harshness of the sun's rays and scanned their immediate surroundings, "We need to find a place that's still standing with a roof over its head. Then we can take stock of where we are and..."

"We can tell you where you are, little girlie," a gruff male voice called out.

"In hell!" a second noted, causing the party to turn and stare in the direction of the shadows.

"And we're the welcoming committee!" a third called out in sinister humor.

"Eh?" Tachi started to say when a huge black ball of metal came crashing through a nearby wall and nailed Efreet, who did not have time enough to see it coming. At once the levitating girl was knocked sprawling, which prompted Tachi to call out her name in a frantic, "EFREET!"

"Owiee," the dark haired girl complained from where she landed, "Anybody get the number of that bus...?"

Minos hit the ground the moment the current supporting him was lifted and he hit the ground like a stone, then gazed around in disbelief as he came back to himself in bruised and battered self-awareness.

Groaning slightly as he picked himself back up again he glanced around then said, "Okay...now I'm pissed...who did that?"

"We did," a voice responded slyly as four bizarre-looking figures emerged from concealment, the one clutching the huge ball and chain standing as hulking as an Ogre and only half as physically attractive.

"You're trespassing in our area," one of the other figures grinned in an insinuating manner, "You're going to have to pay us a fine for that."

"Yeah," a larger and more brutish-looking man added in turn, "We'll take all that you got, including your women!"

"Looks like this is the local welcoming committee," Tachi noted as he stood relaxed and at ease.

"Really?" Ryoma sniffed, "I'd never have guessed."

"Be careful," Tarot warned, "The big one is definitely more than he seems."

"Yeah, so?" Minos reared up and smacked his fists together, "I can use a little workout, then I'm gonna go back to punching your lights out, Ryo-chan," he added the latter part with a nasty smirk.

"Talk about one track minds," Carmine grumbled as she went to Efreet's aid, helping the other girl to sit upright, "Are you feeling all right?"

"Oh fine," Efreet said with a somewhat dazed expression, "All systems check out nominal, if you don't take into account my internal gyroscopics, which seem a bit potty at the moment."

"What's your beef, losers?" Ryoma taunted the four hard-looking mutants, "Other than having a bad hair day?"

"Oh, funny guy," the fourth of these unworthies remarked as they fanned out to encircle the youths, "Guess that means we get to kill you first..."

"If I had a ten-yen piece for every time I've heard that..." Ryoma said under his breath before raising his voice and calling out to Carmine, "Is your friend in any condition to rumble? If not, then you'd better get her out of here...it's about to get ugly, right Ugly?"

The huge man-mountain snarled and swung his ball-and-chain around like a top before bringing it down in a smash at where Ryoma had been standing, only to find the handsome boy had dodged the attack quite easily and was rushing in past the monster's guard, only to have his spatula clang against the side of the giant's head with a distinctly metal resonance.

"What the hell?" Ryoma staggered backward, feeling his hands ring as his weapon vibrated between his fingers.

"Surprised Scum?" the dark-hued giant snarled before reversing the motion of his ball and chain so that it went arcing back in Ryoma's direction.

"Look out!" Carmine called out, then faster than was human possible she accelerated her speed and grabbed the boy out of the way of the attack by mere instants.

"What the...?" Ryoma gasped as he turned to look at his redheaded savior, "Who...what are you?"

"That would take too long to explain," Carmine apologetically acknowledged, "Just for now believe me when I say that I'm on your side."

"No problem there," Ryoma smiled, "But after this is over I at least expect to get your phone number."

As Carmine started blushing at this, Tachi was busy dodging another Mohawk-  
sporting opponent, one who used bladed pendulum-shaped slicers for purposes having little to do with dicing carrots and onions. The handsome youth easily avoided the clumsy thrusts of his overmuscled assailant, which so infuriated the leather-clad man that he snarled out a savage, "STAND STILL SO I CAN SLICE YOU, YOU LITTLE JACK-RABBIT!"

"Now why would anyone want to agree to that?" Tachi asked in reasonable tones before executing a flawless Razor-kick to the man's chin, somersaulting backward to give himself more breathing space while his attacker shrugged off the kick, spitting blood as he snarled in increasing fury.

"Now you've gone and done it!" the Raider lifted his slicers as if preparing to slice the air between them, "I'm gonna carve that pretty face of yours into bloody pieces!"

"We'll see about that," Tachi replied, calmly reaching behind his jacket and pulling out his trademark bokken.

"What are you gonna do with that little stick?" the Raider snarled as he aimed a series of blows at Tachi's mid-section.

To the amazement of the refugee from a "Mad-Max" movie, Tachi went on the offensive, his bokken becoming a blur of motion as it seemed to be everywhere at once, and suddenly the Raider tensed up, the muscles of his body freezing in mid-motion.

"Never cross blades with a student of Nampo," Tachi calmly remarked as he stepped back to survey his handiwork, then snapped his fingers, "Appearances will always deceive you."

And, like a marionette whose strings had just been cut, the Raider felt his body go completely limp at the sound of those snapping fingers, and as if on command he became like a limp dishrag sprawled out upon the ruined tarmac.

"Amazing," Tarot remarked as she watched Minos trading blows with a Raider half his size but much, much quicker and agile, "This guys is an even bigger barbarian than you, Taro-san."

"Har-de-har!" Minos snarled, "Remind me to laugh after I deck this loser!"

"You can't even touch me!" the smaller Raider sneered, "I can rain a hundred blows on you in the time it takes for you to throw a single punch!"

"But you ain't got nothing in those punches," Minos snarled, and then all at once he became a blue-white blur as his fist rocketed forward, kicking up such a shockwave in its passage that his foe was caught in the backwash and picked up like a leaf in a hurricane. Before he had time to travel far, though, Minos's foot shot forward and he punted the little man into the stratosphere.

"And I only gotta land one punch to make it count," Minos concluded, adding tersely under his breath, "And you just ain't Ryo neither. He and me alone could clean up on your losers."

Carmine was dodging the big man with the mace, having determined rather quickly that the Raider's body was hard with the consistency of solid iron. Having had some experience with Iron Golems in her time, she knew what one could do if it caught up with her, so she instead kept out of his reach, waiting for the fellow to make a mistake and leave her the opening she needed.

"Oh man," Ryoma said in open admiration as he stood to one side with his bakers peel held at the ready, "She really is something..."

"She is at that," Efreet remarked as she stood beside him, leaning on her staff, "Just as soon as I get repaired, though, I'm gonna take out that bruiser like last week's Sushi."

"Repaired?" Ryoma arched an eyebrow, "Don't you mean healed?"

"Uh...yeah...that too," Efreet smiled weakly, sensing that her internal systems were only at 82% at optimum and would requite another eight minutes to fully complete work on her stabilizers.

As she thought this, though, Carmine saw the opening that she was after and took it, darting in past the iron giant's guard to plant a kick that caught him on the chin, using her speed to accelerate her foot to over four-hundred kilometers-per-hour with unleashing her full Vampiric strength in one titanic blow that struck with the force of a guided missile. The giant was picked up and thrown the length of a soccer field, to crash into a nearby building and instantly reduce the place to an even worse crumbling pile of rubble.

"Hah!" Carmine smirked, ignoring the slight twinge of her ankle, "That showed him a thing or two about crossing paths with a Hitomabori!"

"Hmph," Tarot snorted as she studied the crimson-haired girl, then narrowed her eyes as she caught sight of Ryoma's expression. She was about to say something rather acid about "poachers" when a pair of arms went suddenly around her and locked her body in a full nelson, lifting her up off her feet as the last remaining Raider turned to sneer at the party with a cruel, merciless expression.

"Hey, you losers!" this Raider snarled out, "You may think you're tough shit, but if you don't surrender now to me and my buddies this little frail is gonna get it!"

"Tarot-dono!" Ryoma's nostrils flared as he held his Baker's Peel at the ready.

"Ah," Tachi raised a finger with a look of caution, "You really don't want to do that..."

"Yes I do!" the Raider taunted, "Offing frails is what I do for a hobby! I usually like to soften them up first before I do them, but..."

"You're digging your own grave," Minos shook his head with a disapproving expression, "You better let her go or you're gonna be sorry."

"And who's gonna make me?" the Raider snorted.

"I WILL!" Tarot snarled back, her eyes suddenly crimson as her slender frame tensed then flexed with unexpected power.

"Wh-?" was all the time the Raider had to express his dismay before his body was suffused in a glow and he began to change, shrinking rapidly in size while turning a distinctively green coloration. Within two flicks of an eyelash he was no longer a man in any sense of the word, finding himself instead of the notably amphibian persuasion.

"It never pays to mess around with an Amazon who's had Mage training," Tachi shook his head sadly, "Though I have to admit, she did improve your appearance."

"Serves him right," Minos snorted, "If it'd been me I'd have just flattened you like a pancake."

"He got off lucky," Ryoma nodded as he slung his bakers peel back over his shoulder, "Nobody messes with Tarot-dono around me and remains healthy."

"Why Ryo-chan," Tarot flashed a smile in his direction, "You say the nicest things sometimes."

"Hey!" Carmine protested, "What gives here? Is she really your girlfriend?"

"Ah...well..." Ryoma winced, when a warning instinct caused him to turn in time to see the iron mace bearing down at them, to which he began to call, "DUCK-  
!"

Carmine barely had time to take note of the rush of wind in her ear before turning around and seeing the mace bearing down right at her. She managed to get her arms raised in a blocking motion and started to levitate away when it hit her, the force only slightly diminished by her efforts as the impact alone was enough to send her sprawling.

"CARMINE!" Efreet cried out, knowing full well what that mace had done to her and how it must have affected her childhood companion.

"Surprised?" the Iron giant loomed up, "You didn't think that baby-tap was going to put me down for long, did you?"

"YOU-" Efreet extended her key-staff and caused it to be surrounded by a gathering cloud of ionic vapor, and within seconds it was fully charged as she prepared to release the power in a massive discharge.

"ohshit!" Carmine groaned from where she lay sprawling, knowing that she was utterly helpless to intervene while still recovering from the touch of solid cold iron.

"DIIIIIEEEEE!" Efreet cried as she hurled a beam of devastating force right into the face of the towering black giant.

For a moment it was if the sun had suddenly been unleashed upon the Earth as mater and energy were vaporized and converted into raw plasma, creating a shockwave explosion that could be heard and felt for miles in all directions. For a time it seemed as if nothing could survive within the space of that near-  
nuclear explosion, but when the dust and debris finally settled a single patch of ground remained unaffected, occupied by a globe of swirling energies that encompassed five figures, one standing at the center with her arms raised in the manner of an invocation.

It took several instants before the facts fully registered on Carmine's consciousness, but as she took stock of her prone and rather intact state she finally remarked, "We're still alive...? How...?"

Tarot slowly lowered her arms as the globe of force surrounding them was dissipated. All at once the strength seemed to leave her slender body and she began to sway on her feet, only to be caught at the last second by the strong arm of Taro Minos.

"How is she?" Ryoma asked.

"A little weak," Minos replied, "What did you expect, man? She just shielded us against a Baby Nuke!"

"A little less than that, I estimate," Tachi remarked as he took stock of their surroundings, "Forty thousand kilograms of raw Nitroglycerine would just about account for this size of a crater."

"Ah..." Efreet-who alone had remained outside of the force-bubble-seemed no worse for the wear, but she adopted an appropriately sheepish expression, "Sorry about that...I got carried away again. Sometimes I just don't know my own strength...but when he hurt Carmine..."

"I'm okay," the redhead in question pushed herself off the ground, only to find Ryoma's hand being offered to her, and she took it with a kind of dazed expression that had nothing at all to do with their near-death encounter.

"I'm glad to hear that," Ryoma smiled, "You still owe me your phone number."

"Ah..." Carmine felt her cheeks turn as ruby red as her close-cropped hair and she wanted very much to make a tactical retreat so she could make sense of the feelings this boy seemed to be awakening inside her. She wondered what normal girls would say in situations such as this and thought about what small talk she could make to entertain and impress him with her witty brilliance, but before she could come up with anything that was not Occult-related the ground near to their feet erupted upward, and suddenly the Iron giant leveled himself up with a snarl of outrage.

"WHAT?" Efreet reacted, "No way! I hit that bruiser with a level-three fireball! No way could he survive it!"

"It's not possible!" Carmine herself declared, even while knowing from personal history that just such a phrase usually mean that the thing in question was possible anyway, just not easily credited.

"YOU BITCH!" the black-hued giant reared to his feet with his chain and mace in hand, ready to renew the struggle, YOU HURT ME! YOU'RE ALL GONNA DIE FOR THIS!"

The giant began to swing his mace over his head like a helicopter, and by the blood-mad look in his eyes it was plain that he would not be deterred so easily from slaughter. Those youths still capable of defending themselves assumed waiting crouches of defense with their weapons in their hands once again, but before they could act yet another player arrived upon the scene, took stock of the uneven match and came to her own rather significant conclusions.

The Mace came thundering down at the waiting teenagers, only to be blocked at the last second as a slender hand reached out to catch it, an equally slender form materializing in the space between them.

"Not necessarily," Wanda replied, squeezing the ball until it shattered into pieces, then her other hand shot forward to strike the towering giant directly in the forehead.

"YEOWWW!" the giant staggered back clutching at his head, dropping his chain as his eyes began to turn cross-eyed., his body vibrating with a distinctive humming sound of alternating vibration.

"Whoah," murmured Tachi.

"Oh yeah," agreed Ryoma.

"Did you see that?" Tarot exclaimed as she began to recover her strength.

"Yeah," Minos agreed, "Doesn't mean I believe it..."

"Man, they sure grow them big in these parts," Efreet said in awed appraisal.

"My apologies," Wanda turned around, seeming to dismiss he Iron giant from her thoughts, "I did not sense your coming until it was almost too late. There is a village over that way where you can come rest with me and tell me where you have been and how you arrived here..."

"Waitaminute!" the giant growled, "You ain't done with me yet! I'm gonna get you back for-"

"You're already dead," Wanda said dismissively, not even bothering to turn around for a confirmation.

"Dead? I-I-!" the giant squeezed his eyes shut and convulsed before their eyes, his legs wobbling as the rest of his massive body began to tremble. The giant attempted to scream as pain wracked his form and caused his skin to buckle like tinfoil, and then he fell to his knees with an unholy cry as his metallic head swelled up to twice its normal dimensions.

"This way," Wanda indicated as she started off back towards the village, even as the six youths from Nerima stared in horrified fascination while the giant continued to convulse until his head finally exploded, at which point they averted their eyes and shielded their faces.

At stillness fell over the smoldering battlefield, and above the rotting stink of death mixed with the smell of ozone the teenagers turned to regard the silver-haired woman's retreating backside. It took several long moments before Ryoma could summon up the nerve to ask, "Well...what do you guys think?"

"I think I want to stay on that lady's good side," Efreet answered with a more than slightly queasy expression, and had she been capable of either vomiting or fainting, she would have seriously considered both under the circumstances.

"Good call," Tachi murmured, "I definitely don't want to make a woman like that angry."

"It would seem only polite for us to take her up on her offer, Ryo-chan," Tarot noted.

"Not to mention way more healthy," Carmine agreed, exchanging odd looks with the blue haired Witch as both found themselves on the same side of an issue.

"What a woman," Minos breathed softly as though in deep admiration, which earned some funny looks from his companions.

"Yeah...I guess you could say that," Ryoma charitably appraised, then slung his bakers peel again and said, "C'mon...no sense waiting around here to see if Metal-head had any immediate next of kin. I don't know about the rest of you but I could use a soda right about now."

"You and me both," Minos sighed, "But I'm still gonna pound you after this is over."

"Men," Tarot rolled her eyes, and again Carmine found it odd how much her own thoughts were mirrored by that singular comment...

Continuum # 59343921

"I just want to say this once for the record, Ryoko," Princess Masaki Ayeka sighed in contented bliss, "I still think of you as a filthy beast."

"Really?" the Cyan-haired woman beside her asked in amusement, "And what do you want to do about it, Princess?"

"Clean you out, of course," Ayeka mused wryly as she nestled more firmly into the arm of her beloved co-wife, "Inside and out, thoroughly and completely until you are squeaky clean and slippery to my touch."

"Oh yeah?" Ryoko grinned in a lust that was as naked as the both of their bodies while they soaked together in the hot springs that adjoined the Masaki manner, "Do tell...maybe I should get a little of that in myself. You're mind seems awfully dirty at the moment, Ayeka-chan..."

"Dirty with thoughts of the possibilities of what I am going to do with you once our husband gets back from the office," Ayeka cooed as she played a lazy hand over one of Ryoko's breasts, "Tell me...how do you feel about wearing the collar this time and going down on all fours like a dog?"

"Sounds definitely kinky," Ryoko remarked, "But I'd rather you were the one wearing the collar..."

"I wore it last time," Ayeka reminded her mate, "Now it's your turn."

"Oh yeah," Ryoko leaned back and sighed in bliss, enjoying the attention that she was receiving from the amorous Juraian princess, "Well, guess I don't want to sound unfair, and since it is my turn like you say...OOOHHH YESSS!"

"I knew I could count on you seeing eye to eye with me," Ayeka murmured as her hand slid down the Space Pirate's body to play with her submerged snatch, just before they turned and brought their faces together in a kiss that was full of amorous passion and a lingering sweetness that nearly two decades of married life had yet to extinguish.

They broke contact and Ryoko gasped all the more as she felt a finger sliding up into her, and she started to roll her eyes towards the dome-like ceiling above their heads when she caught sight of something that made her remark, "What in the hell...?"

"Eh?" Ayeka was mildly confused by her wife's odd exclamation, then saw the look on Ryoko's face and turned her on gaze towards the heavens, seeing an odd sight drifting through the air far above them that looked something like their daughters, Ryeka and Tenko, carrying some manner of space capsule in their arms as they headed towards the lair of the scientist, Washu.

"Looks like the kids found something," Ryoko remarked, "I wonder what that thing is?"

"Whatever it is, it probably means trouble," Ayeka reasoned.

"You think so?" Ryoko asked, "Maybe we should investigate, do you think?"

"Hmmm," Ayeka considered the point for several seconds then shook her lavender-  
haired head in a negative manner, "No thanks...whatever it is, your mother can handle it perfectly well by herself, and I'd much rather stay here and continue screwing your brains out."

"I like the way your mind works, Princess," Ryoko leered, "Yeah, the kids can probably handle it, whatever it is, after all they're just like us at that age..."

"You think so?" Ayeka paused before adding, "That's what worries me so much. Oh well..."

And then she dipped her head under the water and began blowing bubbles between Ryoko's thighs, much to the Space Pirate's considerable and heartfelt approval...

"The parental units are at it again," Ryeka remarked as they passed by the dome-  
shaped Jacuzzi.

"So what else is new?" Tenko replied as they continued their journey towards the lair of their mutual grandmother, "At least it keeps them out of trouble when they're like that."

"Yeah," Ryeka agreed, "Thank the Stars for small favors..."

The laboratory of Profession Washu was as remote and forbidding an institution as any scientific complex ever seen in the cosmos. It was so vast that it did not even exist in normal timespace, having only a few dimensional gateways through which it could be accessed, one of which was the iris-shaped dome that sat in concealment near the base of a nearby mountain. The complex was defended by every conceivable security apparatus that the demented genius could come up with and had more conventional warning signs that read, "KEEP OUT, PRIVATE PROPERTY!" and "UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN-YES, THIS MEANS YOU, MIHOSHI!"

These security devices cleared the two Princesses of the House of Jurai without giving any indication that they had even been scanned, not to mention briefed, debriefed, filed, stamped and numbered. The iris opened to admit them as they brought the capsule gently down in a prepared cradle made ready to receive it. Once their charge was thus delivered the two blue haired girls turned to be greeted by a voice that each knew and well loved, though they very seldom let their guard down around her.

"About time you girls brought that," Professor Washu remarked, "Well, don't stand around, get her out of there where I can examine her and see what she's made of."

"Right," the two young girls replied as one, then Tenko popped open the capsule once again while Ryeka dove in and fished out its dark haired occupant.

"Just as I thought," Washu murmured in a very concerned manner, "Looks like your new girlfriend's been in a recent fight."

"Yeah," Ryeka growled as she considered dropping the girl in her arms, "It was a lucky sucker punch...I'd have taken her if she'd given me some warning."

"That's enough," Washu chided, "You can settle accounts with her only after we get her patched up and not a moment before that, you hear me, girls?"

"Yes Grandmother," both girls replied in chorus.

"How's that again?" Washu frowned in a dangerous manner.

"Ah..." the two Princesses exchanged looks, then Tenko replied, "Washu-chan?"

"That's better," the redheaded Mad Scientist nodded in approval.

A few minutes later their new acquaintance was floating in a nutrient bath while Washu's devices monitored her vital signs and made a quick confirmation of her already formed suspicions.

"Just as I thought," Washu mused, "Your friend here isn't from Earth, she's a Saiyajin."

"Say what?" Tenko replied with a rather shocked expression.

"Huh?" Ryeka asked, "What's a Saiyajin?"

"A ruthless race of genetically bred super-warriors who used to terrorize many civilized worlds before the Galaxy Police staged a raid on their home planet," Tenko replied, "I remember Aunt Mihoshi telling us all about it in one of her stories. They used to hire themselves out as galactic mercenaries to conquer entire planets and sell them at auction."

"Ew, gross!" Ryeka replied with her lovely face screwed up in revulsion, "They sound a lot worse than your usual space pirate."

"That they were, kid," Washu replied as she set to work inputing instructions on her work console, "Your normal Space Pirate is only interested in material gain and not the systematic slaughter of entire races of people. Even at her worst your mother never resorted to wholesale Genocide, not even when she was under the influence of Kagato, though he was certainly not above blowing up the odd planet in his quest for ultimate power. Of course the really odd thing is that the Saiyajin homeworld was destroyed a while back and the survivors were mostly rounded up and put into labor camps. There's no record of any freely active Saiyajin operating anywhere in the last two decades, so wherever this gal is from, it must be someplace pretty far out on the fringes of the known Galaxy, either that or beyond the rim...that's assuming she's even from this time and dimension."

"Come again?" Tenko looked on with alarm, "Are you saying that she's...from somewhere else?"

"Sure looks like it, Kid," Washu called up a diagram that gave the bio-stats of her current patient, "According to this her Quantum Sub-Atomic vibrational Constant is radically out of synch with the rest of normal timespace. This matches up with those readings that Ekko passed along to me earlier in the day concerning your own little jaunt in Paratime dimensions."

"Huh?" Ryeka glanced at her sister, "What the heck is she talking about? You went somewhere today without telling me about it, Sis?"

"It's a long story," Tenko averred, "Washu-chan...Grandmother...what you are telling us is quite...disturbing. We had hoped that we had put an end to these travels through parallel worlds once we concluded that last crisis..."

"Sorry to have to tell you this, kid, but it looks like things aren't over yet...not by a longshot," Washu considered her monitors for a moment while stroking her chin with a thoughtful expression, "Of course there's something else that doesn't quite jibe right here...like the fact that this Saiyajin is female, and according to these genetic readings about half her genetic code is from Earth standard...in fact it comes close to matching one of the profiles that I have in my records. Now ordinarily a Saiyajin warrior-elite is typically male...they tend to keep their women locked up for use only in mating purposes...something about their having an uninhibited sex drive. This girl seems to be around sixteen standard Earth years in age and has a constitution like an ox. I estimate that her power level is at least a hundred times Earth standard, and possibly more if she's learned how to control it."

"Then where the heck could she have come from, Grandma?" Ryeka asked, feeling along her chin, "She sure packed one hell of a punch..."

"That's what we're going to find out right now," Washu coded in some new instructions and caused a rectangular screen to manifest in mid-air. It formed a holographically-deep image that slowly resolved itself into what looked like a perfectly ordinary bedroom...the kind that could belong to any ordinary teenager.

"These images are from her recorded thoughts," Washu explained to her curious granddaughters, "Hold on a minute...I'm going to swap the image to create the illusion that we are viewing her from an external source based on her own personality profile and general self-conception. Now...these are fairly recent memories that, for her, no doubt, reflect her experiences beginning with when she woke up this very morning."

The image shifted to resolve into the image of the girl laying in her bed wearing nothing but a light pink nightshirt. The girl's face was peacefully contented and seemed innocently devoid of any untowards thoughts or malevolent intentions.

All at once the alarm next to her bed went off, and after a moment the girl blindly groped with a hand to find the offending timepiece and squeeze it into silence. The girl settled back to sleep, only to be jolted a minute later when a much louder alarm rang out and caused her to jump out of bed, hitting her head on the floor as she scattered her bedsheets.

"Oh my," Tenko could not quite prevent herself from chuckling in amusement, "Her sleeping habits are just like you, Neechan."

"Oh, it is to laugh!" Ryeka growled, frowning more than slightly as they continued to study the viewscreen.

The girl had no sooner crawled to the wall and pulled herself up to her feet then a tapping at the window alerted her that someone wanted her attention. She lowered the window and started to say, "Yes?" only to have a small rock bounce off her face, which caused her to wince slightly.

"Oops!" a voice called from outside the window, "Sorry about that, Ayane!"

"Cerdwin!" the dark haired girl called back, "What's the idea of throwing rocks up here? You want to break a window and get me in trouble with my Dad?"

"I said I was sorry," a blonde haired girl plaintively replied, "We're going to be late for school...aren't you even ready?"

"Urk!" the dark-haired Ayane reacted, stumbling away from the widow with a suddenly panic-stricken expression, "I'm late, and today's the big test we've been studying for! If I don't pass I just know I'm gonna get made fun of by Berka!"

What followed were the hasty images of the girl stripping off her nightie and hopping into the showers, complaining slightly about the cold water against her rather shapely body. She scrubbed her hair and then her teeth in rapid order then raced back into her room and hastily slipped on the saffron-colored Gi that the current girl was wearing, then raced out the door and down the stairs to the living room where she met up with her mother in the kitchen, who was even then about to call her daughter to breakfast.

"Hey!" Ryeka pointed to the image of a very attractive woman who looked to be somewhere in her early thirties, "Isn't that Aunt Kasumi, Lilith's mother?"

"It would appear so," Tenko replied, "Interesting...so she's a Tendo...but who is her father?"

The girl began to shovel down food at a speed that was worthy of a Saotome, but when she glanced up at the man currently reading the paper it turned out to be none other than the kindly Doctor Tofu.

"Dad, Mom," the girl said brightly, "Today's the big day for my test, so wish me well, I'm gonna ace it for sure this time!

"That's nice dear," her mother responded, "Just be careful not to play too rough with your friends today. You know your Uncle Ranma thinks you have the best potential of any student of his school, but it wouldn't do to overdo it."

"Yes," Tofu replied, "I can certainly agree with that. Your mother and I are both proud of what you've accomplished so far, but keep in mind that some of your classmates are breakable. I've had a number of complaints from other parents that you're just trying to give me extra business."

"I wouldn't do that, Dad!" Ayane protested, "You know how hard I try not to hurt people...unless they're the kind who need hurting."

"I'm just teasing you, Ayane-chan," Tofu beamed benevolently, "Enjoy your day and try not to feel so pressured about your test scores. You've been applying yourself really hard of late and Principle Ninamiya seems to think that you could well make the honor rolls this time around. A sound mind goes with a sound body and would also make a fitting tribute to the Anything Goes tradition."

"Don't worry, Dad," Ayane said as she got up out of her chair and grabbed her book-bag before glancing at a wall clock, "Yikes! Gotta run, seeya!"

With that the dark haired girl was out the door and on a dead run as she was met by the blonde haired Cerdwin, who gave Ayane a puzzled look before saying, "What took you so long-AAAWK!" the latter being spoken as she was grabbed up by the swift moving Saiyajin.

What followed was a lightning race across town with the dark haired girl carrying her blonde companion at such incredible speeds that the town itself seemed to pass them by in a blur. Cerdwin hung on for dear life as Ayane leaped high into the air and vaulted great distances at a single bound, covering miles in a matter of only seconds."

"Wow, she's fast," Tenko remarked, "And strong as well..."

"Hah," Ryeka scoffed, "She just like Ekko only not as bright, and she can't even fly like we can."

All at once the race to class took the pair into a cliffside view that overlooked the rest of the valley, and without hesitating a beat Ayane leaped into the air and began to soar towards the school that resided at the other end of the valley, skillfully negotiating the air traffic that flowed over the valley to arrive at the front gate for a graceful one-point landing.

"You were saying?" Tenko smiled without glancing at her sister.

"Bloody show off," Ryeka grumbled.

"All right!" Ayane cried, "We made it on time for once, and no sign of Berka..."

"Ah...Ayane?" Cerdwin tapped her friend on the arm then pointed skyward.

"Huh?" the dark haired girl replied, then followed her friend's gesture, shielding her eyes before saying, "Ah no...not this bit again!"

"Greetings Tofu Ayane!" came a voice from a giant mecha that de-cloaked before their eyes, "Today is the day that I squash you like the bug that you are!"

"Yeah right," Ayane fumed, "Can't you even get a new act, Berka? There's no way you're gonna lick my behind with that thing!"

"AAARGGHH!" the giant balled its massive fists and roared, "Must you always resort to such crude adjectives when describing my intentions? Besides, it's not your hindquarters that I wish to lick but those of your charming companion."

"Oh my," Cerdwin said with a somewhat embarrassed expression, "If I'd know that I would have washed first..."

"Why does she somehow remind me of Aunt Mihoshi?" Ryeka asked.

"I can't begin to imagine," Tenko replied.

"Ayane, Cerdwin and Berka," Ryeka snorted, "What kind of names are those?"

"Anglo-German," Washu replied, "Oh my...here's where things really start to get interesting..."

The fight began and was instantly a standoff with the power-housed Ayane trading blows with the giant Mecha. The huge frame of the robot moved with amazing facility, dexterity and adroitness, and it made up for its lumbering size by sporting a pair of rockets to add to its mobility and give it an aerial capacity to match that of its opponent. The fight was hardly even begun, however, when a fateful interruption brought things to a sudden conclusion.

A light beam fell over the area, causing both Mecha and Saiyajin to pause in id-  
flight and stare upward at a flying saucer-shaped object, a ship that bore no recognizable insignia.

"Oh man," Ryeka winced, "I hate when stuff like this happens!"

"Who are they?" Tenko asked, only to be distracted as a tiny figure crawled onto her shoulders, "Oh...Ryo-Aki...I didn't feel you nearby."

"Probably because she was taking a Cabbit-Nap," Washu replied, "Now pay attention...I think we're about to arrive at the crux of the matter. Her adrenal levels are dramatically increasing."

The image resolved into Ayane being strapped to an inclined table and surrounded by a nasty group of oddly dressed aliens all smirking and gawking at the helpless Saiyajin.

"Wh-where am I?" Ayane asked as she clearly became aware of her environs.

"Come back to this dimension, have you?" said a diminutive dwarf of a figure whose features clearly marked it as of the feline persuasion, "So nice of you to join us...Korato."

"Korato?" Ayane asked of the talking Cat standing on two short, stubby hind legs, "Are you for real or something? My name is..."

"Your Earth name you mean," the Cat replied with a nasty smirk, "But your father was a Saiyajin elite warrior, and your given name was Korato. You were raised as an Earthling so you have no conception of what that means, but we are here to restore you to your rightful place among the ranks of your father's people."

"You're nuts!" Ayane struggled against her bonds, to no avail, "I don't know who you guys are but you've bought yourselves a world of trouble...!"

"Captain," one of the men standing next to the Cat-creature reported, "The lab boys are done making tests and they've confirmed the readings recorded by the Scouters. Her power level is definitely fifteen thousand...an incredible reading given that her father was a Third class warrior and her mother was an Earth woman!"

"Interesting," the Cat-man purred, "As a half-breed she should be considerably weaker than a full blooded Saiyajin...so what is it about her human blood that makes her so powerful?"

"We don't know, Sir," the lieutenant responded, "Humans are such frail creatures, it's amazing that they're even genetically compatible with Saiyajin, but incredible as it sounds they can also interbreed with Oni, Jurai and the Leptons."

"A flexxxible DNA matrixxx?" another lieutenant-this one looking more like a lizard than the other aliens present-spoke up with a slight hiss to his forked-  
tongued speech, "Or can it be possssible that they ssshare a common ancccessstor?"

"I don't know," the Cat-man frowned rather ominously, "But Master Frieza has expressed great interest in resolving this matter, which was why we were assigned the task of bringing this female back for interrogation, after which she will undergo standard indoctrination therapy and either become one of our soldiers or go to the breeding pens with the rest of the Saiyajin women."

"WHAT?" Ayane cried, "No way! You're not turning me into some kind of perverted sex slave!"

"Don't be so quick to pass judgement," the Cat-Captain smiled in an insinuating manner, "Normal Saiyajin females have some of the highest sex drives recorded in any Hominid species. If you were born full blooded you would be unable to control your urges and would attack anything male that caught your interest. You could do every man in this room and not even think twice about it, let alone feel guilt over your actions in the morning."

"Do you? No way!" Ayane struggled again as she tried to overcome whatever force was keeping her immobile."

"I'm concerned, Sir," the hulking lieutenant who had spoken before spoke up once again, "Her power levels are too great...can we contain her until we deliver her to Master Frieza?"

"Not to worry," the Captain replied, "Her nervous system is being regulated to insure that she maintains a civil manner in her body. She can'' even summon energy while she's trapped like that. Believe me...Master Frieza has thought of everything for dealing with this half-breed.

"You keep calling me a half-breed!" Ayane growled, "What do you know about my father?"

"We know he wasn't that kindly doctor who raised you," the Captain replied with a leer, "Your real father was sent to Earth to make it ready for conquest...but something went wrong with the landing and his ship crashed rather than landed. He was found by your mother and nursed back to health from near death, and this seems to have done something to his mind, either that or your mother is an even more tempting little piece than she appeared to be on our long-range monitors..."

"You slime!" Ayane struggled all the harder to overcome the inhibitors in the table, "I'm gonna smear you all over the deck for talking that way about my mother!"

"It all makes sense now," Tenko said as she stared at the memory images, "She's a Tendo with Saiyajin abilities...that must be why she was drawn from her home dimension."

"Excuse me?" Ryeka stared at her sister with raised eyebrows.

"Could be you're onto something there, Tenko-chan," Washu noted as she adjusted her controls to compensate for the increasing emotional levels flooding her systems, "I can definitely confirm that she has a very unique metabolism and she can harness levels of Chi energy that rival those of your mother...maybe even surpass them."

"Say what?" both of her granddaughters responded.

"This Frieza character they keep mentioning," Washu stroked her chin, "Sounds like the Galactic Tyrant your great-great grandfather personally met in battle a few years ago when King Azusa put down some would-be usurper from the Megara system. According to reports this Frieza character was some kind of mutant who could tap into an almost unlimited source of power, making him nearly the equal to the Wings of the Lighthawk. I say nearly, of course, because it turns out he overestimated his own resources..."

"Hold that thought, Grandmother," Tenko urged, "I want to hear this..."

"Sensitive are we?" the Captain sneered, "Well, not to worry...it'll soon be over for your mother and all the other human scum who infest and overrun your planet. We've come to do the job your father refused to do, the Traitor! He chose to face death rather than carry out his mission...imagine! Frieza himself personally dealt with the traitor, but we'll have better luck with you once we've broken your will and awakened the true Saiyajin blood that courses within you."

"Huh?" one of the other aliens suddenly glanced at his peculiar eye-piece, then he turned and cried, "Sir! Scanners detect multiple power readings! The Bridge reports that we are under attack by the Earthlings!"

"WHAT WAS THAT YOU SAY?" the Cat-Captain whirled on his subordinate with a shocked expression.

"Heh," Ayane snorted, "Earth people aren't such easy pushovers as you guys seem to think. You think I'm tough stuff? I'm just medium level...wait until you meet some of my friends, they'll put you straight about the meaning of real power."

"It won't mean anything to us!" the Captain declared, "We are elite warriors in service to Master Frieza! No Terran-based scum will breech the walls of my ship-!"

As if on cue the whole deck rocked and shifted under their feet, and then a sound like the grinding of giant gears heralded a tearing noise that traveled the length of the vessel.

"You were saying?" Ayane asked when all at once the power blinked out of the room, plunging them briefly into darkness before the emergency lights kicked in and painted everything into crimson tinted highlights.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" the Captain cried in horrified dismay.

"Sir...hull rupture on decks one-to-seven!" the hulking lieutenant from before called out, "Emergency crews are encountering heavy resistance! We've been boarded by the enemy and they are fighting their way here even as we speak!"

"Wait!" the Snake-man of before declared, "Where isss the female? Ssshe isss no longer on the table!"

"That's right!" Ayane announced just as the mayhem commenced, giving the alien crew time enough to collectively gasp and go for their weapons before launching into action and unleashing a whirlwind in the cabin, "NOW WHAT WAS THAT YOU WERE SAYING ABOUT MY MOTHER...?"

"Oh my," Tenko covered her mouth and looked away, horrified at the level of violence that flooded the images on the viewscreen.

"Huh, serves him right if you ask me," Ryeka sniffed, "Talking Cats and lizards...ridiculous."

"Meoww!" Ryo-Aki responded.

"Right," Ryeka replied, "I was gonna say that..."

The image shifted to a free-for-all in which a transformed Cerdwin joined Ayane in a corridor dressed in some manner of golden armor and wielding spear that was playing havoc among the crewmen. At her side was a silver-haired woman with multiple fox-like tails dressed in Ultra-high tech armor and fighting economically to the effect that their alien foes were falling like flies, some taken out by missiles that the fox-woman fired from her gauntlets.

"Cerdwin!" Ayane called out, "Berka...you made it!"

"We've come to rescue you, Ayane!" the golden Cerdwin called cheerfully while fighting like a Valkyrie from Valhalla.

"Correct," the silver-haired fox-woman declared, "No one has the right to defeat you in battle but me, Ayane. These cretins will know the wrath of the Heavens for daring to do whatever perverted things they thought they could get away with!"

"Never thought I'd be so happy to see a tail-chaser like you come to my rescue," Ayane said cheerfully, "Who else is along for the ride?"

"Oh, the usual suspects," Berka replied as she drove one alien through the side of a bulkhead, "Moroboshi, Birdy, Alan Kent, even the Tsukino twins..."

"Cool!" Ayane smiled, "With you guys on the ball we'll mop up these creeps in next to no time!"

"Not so," Berka contradicted, "We will defeat this enemy, but you must escape now before this vessel is destroyed. We are too far outside the atmosphere for you to breathe, and as powerful as you are you cannot survive in vacuum. If this ship goes now you might perish, and that is simply intolerable to me so long as we have not yet resolved whether my brains will beat out on your brute power."

"Yeah," Cerdwin stated, "They got some kind of scrambler thingie that blocks teleportation, so only those of us who can survive without air could make it for this party."

"That figures," Ryeka snorted, "An air-head like that was probably starved for oxygen at birth..."

"That isn't a nice thing to say, Neechan," Tenko gently chided as they watched the remaining images unfold.

Despite her wish to stay and fight, Ayane was persuaded to seek one of the life-  
pods of the vessel and was starting to strap herself in when a lumbering figure appeared at the hatch and leveled a weapon at her crying out, "DIE SAIYAJIN TRASH!"

"NO!" Ayane cried, instinctively extending a hand and blasting the alien ogre even as he fired on her point-blank. The screen whited out at that moment, and then the images of tumbling through a starry voice was replaced by a curious tunneling out effect that seemed to draw Ayane in right before the image faded out altogether.

"Is that it?" Ryeka blinked, "She escaped from the bad guys but one of them managed to get a shot off?"

"Apparently her energy interacted with the power of his weapon to cause more damage to the ship than either one of them alone," Washu theorized, "My guess is that the blast took out the warp drive and maybe even caused the core to implode. That would have disrupted the space-time continuum and sent her out of sync with normal timespace..."

"I see what you're getting at," Tenko replied, "A disruption of the probability lines would provide the perfect excuse for her to be snatched out of the normal timestream and deposited virtually on our doorstep. Perhaps this might even be the beginning of an entirely new adventure..."

"Excuse me?" Ryeka lifted an eyebrow, "What the hell are you two talking about? Speak Juraian, please?"

"Hold it," Washu spoke up again, "I'm getting one more memory image...here it is, I'll call it up..."

The screen came alive again, and this time it was seen through the interior of the capsule, which hissed open automatically as Ayane fumbled for the handle. A blurry form loomed up into her vision and she instinctively lashed out at the perceived enemy, only to feel her strength desert her as she stumbled forward and muttered, "Help...me..."

"So that was why she punched my lights out," Ryeka noted.

"She's definitely not a normal Saiyajin," Washu sniffed, "Most of them would rather die than beg for help from anyone. She's definitely human in all the things that truly matter."

"The point is that she is not an enemy..." Tenko started to say when all at once alarms went off at Washu's console.

"What in the world?" Washu exclaimed, "Power build-ups off the scale! Stirring her memories must have triggered her aggressive instincts..."

All at once the nutrient bath encasing their guest exploded outward as raw energy surrounded the dark haired girl like a furious battle aura. Ryeka and Tenko automatically phased their bodies to allow the debris and fluids flew in all directions, then they stood ready in matching crouches as they regarded the dark haired girl, waiting for her to make the next move.

"Where..." the girl staggered, then spread her legs wide and balled her fists as she assumed a riding horse stance, "Where am I?"

"In my laboratory, of course," Washu replied, "But you can relax...we're not the guys who grabbed you the last time."

"And why should I believe you?" Ayane declared, only to be startled as a curious "MEOW?" drew her attention to the floor, where Ryo-Aki was regarding her with large Cabbit-eyes, as innocuous looking as an innocent kitten.

"Relax," Ryeka said, "You want a fight, take it somewhere less dangerous than Grandmother's lab. You never know what you might get if you smash the wrong cage here."

"We are your friends!" Tenko urged more diplomatically, "We don't want to harm you...we want to help."

Ryo-Aki took Ayane's hesitation for invitation and leaped onto her shoulders, meowing again in happy greeting. After a moment of hesitation, the dark haired girl reached up and petted the head of the curious creature.

"I hope you know," Ayane said, "I've had a pretty lousy day...so this better not be a trick..."

"We could say the same thing to you," Ryeka sniffed, "And I'm the one you clobbered earlier, you Baka!"

"Oh?" Ayane stood more relaxed, "Oh...sorry about that...I didn't know. Ah...who are you people?"

"We are Juraian," Tenko responded, "My sister and I are royal Princesses, and our Grandmother over here is the Chief Science Advisor to the crown, Professor Washu."

"Juraians?" Ayane asked, "What are you guys doing on Earth? I thought your Prince declared our world off-limits..."

"You know Lord Tenchi?" Washu asked.

"I know of him," Ayane replied, "And I've even met his son once, but I hadn't heard he had any daughters."

"Better hold onto your hat," Washu remarked, "I think you're going to be surprised to learn quite a lot of things are different here than what you remember."

"Oh?" Ayane asked, "Like what?"

"Ah, where to begin?" Tenko sighed with some amusement, "This could take a while to explain. Does anyone here besides Grandmother know anything about Parallel world theory?"

"Sounds like some kind of a fancy rock group," Ayane replied.

"Huh?" Ryeka blinked, "I was just gonna say that..."

"Perhaps we can help you out," a voice from off-stage called out, drawing attention towards three figures who were rapidly approaching from a side-  
entrance.

"Well, about time you guys got here," Washu said, "Figured you'd want to get in on this action."

"You estimated correctly, Professor," replied a statuesque redhead.

"I thought we were all done with this time traveling stuff," a purple haired girl at her side remarked, "We ought to be getting frequent flier miles for this..."

"We came at once when we heard that there was another translocation," said an olive-brown haired beauty whose eyes immediately sought out Tenko with a smile that raised the room's general illumination, "And this one even showed up on Yggdrasil...only the strangest thing..."

"Which is?" Tenko asked, unable to keep herself from gazing back at the brown haired beauty.

"Oho?" Ryeka glanced from her sister to the other girl in question, "You guys been keeping something from me, Ekko, Lylac...Veil-chan?"

"In a manner of speaking," the one named Veil replied, "But not by intention."

"Tell them the part that you find disturbing," the redheaded Ekko urged their divine companion.

"Oh...quite so," Veil seemed to recover herself at that moment, though she was blushing as she turned to address Washu, "According to our best technicians it was not Yggdrasil that activated the transition gates this time."

"It wasn't?" Tenko raised her eyebrows with an alarmed expression.

"That's what I said when I heard that," the purple haired Lylac remarked, coughing slightly as she added, "After Veil...ah...visited us during our convalescence."

"Huh?" Ryeka turned to regard her other friend, then caught the significant look that the purple haired girl exchanged with the redhead, to which the Juraian princess raised a deep blue eyebrow.

"Sounds like more's going on here than even I suspected," Washu mused, "Maybe we should start everything from the beginning to bring everyone up to date so we can get to the bottom of the matter. I will, of course, provide the visual aids for those unable to think in more than four dimensions..."

"Hey!" Ryeka reacted, "Grandma..."

"I will do the honors," Lylac explained as she nodded to Ayane, "After all I was among the first to be drawn into these matters, so I guess I know as much as anyone from a personal first-hand perspective. You see...it all began a few days ago when my siblings and I were on our way to class...when all of a sudden a pair of odd figures materialized in our path..."

"Can I get popcorn for this?" Ryeka complained.

"Make mine with extra butter," Ayane urged, earning another surprised look from the blue haired Ryeka.

"Sister..." Tenko softly chided.

"I was just asking..." Ryeka shrugged, "Don't make a federal case about it, Sheesh. You guys act like the world was coming to an end or something..." she paused and saw the looks turned her way, "Hey, that was supposed to be rhetorical, get it?"

"Oh yeah," Lylac rolled her eyes, "But wait until you hear the full story...I guarantee it'll knock your socks off..."

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Department of Knocked-Off-Socks: shadowmane

Who or what is manipulating time and playing with the lives of our heroes? What fiendish scheme is so dire that it needs this many heavy hitters? Does the author even know the plot to his own story? For these and other conundrums, stay tuned for: "Time out of Rhyme," or "It's the Ecology, Stupid!" Be there.

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	6. Chapter 6

RanCubed05

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

Chapter Five.

Of Gods and Morsels...

Time Patrol Central Nexus of Realities

"I'm sorry, Sir, but we can't seem to isolate the source of these temporal disruptions."

"Well, can you at least confirm that it doesn't have anything to do with the kid's pendant?" Supervisor Windsor asked the technician, "If this has something to do with Yggdrasil again..."

"No sir," Ryonami replied, "We've just got the word back from the Divine Hotline that they've run their own tests and have confirmed that the Yggdrasil system is not active in this one. Whatever's causing these phenomena is something of extraordinary power that seems capable of shielding itself from outside detection. Definitely an intelligence at work here, though...only certain timelines and individuals are being affected."

"I don't like this," Ranma growled, "Something that powerful running loose in the timefield..."

"Yes," Nabiki replied from where she sat at her own console, "And worse by far, several of these targeted realities are becoming unstable. I'm detecting structural degradation all along the line of Continuums 92684713 and 60429318...there's a definite overlap occurring at coordinates 510037-243-953 on temporal line 2008-04-0758..."

"Hey," Ryoga spoke up, "Call me crazy, but isn't that...?"

"Furinkan High School," Ranma answered for him, "Terrific."

"You mean more guys from parallel versions of Earth are getting sucked up into this business?" Akari asked her husband.

"Seems to be the general pattern, lady," Ranko answered for her, "Why am I not surprised? Only if it's not my pendant that's doing this then what is?"

"Or who," Ranma frowned, "I got a nasty feeling somebody is doing this deliberately, though why anybody in their right mind would deliberately try to collapse the timefield is beyond even my idea of fatalism."

"That's a good point," Windsor noted, "Even a walking Death guy like you needs a place to hang his spurs now and then, and if whoever's responsible for this causes a chain reaction that destabilizes the timefield there won't be anyplace left for any of us to go on vacation."

"To say nothing of the death of countless trillions of sentient beings," Nabiki noted, "But so far it doesn't look as if the immanent collapse of all reality is at the center of their game plan. Seems more like they intend to cause these Continuums to go dormant, just like Ranko's home dimension..."

"Say what?" the redheaded girl replied.

"That's what's bugging me too," Ranma said with an unusually thoughtful expression, "Some guy capable of duplicating the effects of that pendant thingie suggests to me that there's another pendant wielder running around out there, and that could mean serious trouble if he's using another means very similar to Yggdrasil."

"Similar to the World Computer?" Windsor turned to regard his field agent, "That's crazy talk, Saotome."

"Hey bite me, I'm crazy," Ranma sniffed, "Which is probably why I can think of stuff I wouldn't even understand if I hadn't seen with my own eyes what that pendant can do. Thing is, like you say, Chief, ain't nothin' as powerful as Yggdrasil unless it's a god...or maybe..."

"Or maybe someone like Derek?" Ryoga finished for him, "But he's a Guardian...why would he do something like this?"

"We don't know that he has," Nabiki replied, "But if someone with vast powers like him were behind this operation it would go a long ways to explain these creeping anomalies. Perhaps a renegade or some force that we've never previously encountered...uh-oh..."

"Uh oh?" Windsor turned towards her station, "Talk to me Tendo-ah, I mean-  
Ms. Saotome?"

"Don't worry about it," Nabiki replied as her hands flowed across the control panel of her station, "I'm still getting used to it myself...and the reason I say 'Uh-Oh' is that we have a class Five opening up on Continuum 47512936...only I can't quite believe where the other end is emerging. According to my readings it's the Gladsheim plane on a close parallel timeline."

"Gladsheim?" Ryoga started, "The home of the gods?"

"This just keeps getting better and better," Windsor sighed, "Get on the horn on that end and see if you can dial up the coordinates on the link to the Yggdrasil system on that that branch of the timeline...and for Heaven's sakes be diplomatic about it, okay? No waking up Lord Odin when he's using the Jacuzzi..."

"Sheesh," Ryonami winced, "You make one little mistake and it's like they permanently graft it to your record..."

"You never did explain to me how you calmed Lord Odin down," Nabiki eyed her lieutenant with suspicion.

"You're right," the brown haired girl replied with a smirk, "I didn't. Let's just say his wife was away at the time, and you know how Frigid she could get on occasions, and Lord Odin was in need of a good backrub, soooo..."

"Spare me the details," Windsor replied, "But you make the call, and hang up if it's lady."

"I got a feeling things are about to get real interesting," Ranma turned to regard the redhead at his side, "Sorry something like this has to happen on your first day here, Kid. I was hoping to have the chance to at least get us all settled in now that 'Biki and I are sharing our quarters..."

"Who says I'm giving up my spread?" Nabiki responded, "And you'll be needing your old place if you start calling me 'Biki."

"Need it?" Ranma shrugged, "I'm hardly ever there."

"Well, we'll be seeing about that in the future, won't we?" Nabiki countered.

"Oh, so now you plan on running my life for me, huh?" Ranma eyed his new wife archly.

"Somebody has to get you to straighten out your act, Mister," Nabiki countered, "Or did you expect to go on playing Mister Nihilism forever?"

"When I said 'I do' I didn't mean that literally," Ranma snorted.

"I didn't say 'Love, Honor and Obey' either," Nabiki quipped, "Just be glad that I'm not charging you for a makeover."

"Capitalist Swine."

"Barbarian Pig."

"STOP IT!" Akari suddenly cried out, "You're making me horny with all this innuendo!"

Ranko looked on in confusion as she saw her father's grin being reflected in the sardonic smile of her adopted mother. Supervisor Windsor just sighed and said, "Now I'm the one who really needs a vacation. Two weeks of Honeymoon and you two still act like teenagers..."

"Delayed effect," Ranma said, "We're making up for a lost childhood."

"Feels good to act like normal couples," Nabiki smiled, "I never realized what I was missing..."

"Got it!" Ryonami called out, "Lord Odin says to come fast and pick up a couple of strays that popped up out of nowhere in his backyard."

"Guess that means you're paying a visit to the Viking idea of Heaven, Saotome," Windsor remarked, "You and your team better get started, and I expect regular reports from you, Nabiki."

"Sir!" Ranko spoke up suddenly, "Let me come along with them!"

"Out of the question," Windsor replied, "Your folks are professionals, kid, but you lack their training and you're not even a Rookie. Plus you barely even know how to control that pendant of yours..."

"But I want to-!" Ranko started to reply when her mind suddenly expanded as new input flooded her consciousness with a kaleidoscope of images, chief among them a man standing tall among a mountain of skulls like a lordly being surveying his dominion. Crimson eyes regarded her in a most unfriendly manner, and then his lips began to move as though forming words into her mind, but no sound was uttered, leaving her feeling shaken and disturbed without quite knowing the reason.

"Kid?" Ranma caught the look in the eyes of his adopted daughter and was immediately concerned, "You feeling all right?"

"My pendant...spoke to me..." Ranko fought to steady herself, hearing the after-  
echo of words that she somehow new did not come from the man of her vision, "It says I need to come along...that there's something I need to do if we're to fight this guy I saw in my vision..."

"In your vision?" Nabiki looked up, "You just had a vision?"

"What guy?" Ranma frowned, "I don't like the idea of strange men popping up in your head, kid...not at least without first being invited."

"That's not the point, Pop," Ranko spoke up, "The thing is you have to take me with you, it's very important!"

"You think I'm gonna fall for that one?" Windsor asked, "Don't forget, kid, I've been dealing with your old man for the better part of two decades, I'm wise to his usual tricks..."

"Hey!" Ranma protested.

"I think she's serious, Sir," Nabiki spoke up, "In fact I believe that I felt something just now when she had her vision. The Pendant may not be the source of our current problems but it does contain a vital link to Yggdrasil and may have the power to reverse the effects of whatever is causing this. I believe she should come with us as Ranma and I are the only ones who are capable of helping her learn the control she needs to be an effective agent."

"Then I should come along too," Ryoga insisted.

"Ah...do you have to?" Akari asked plaintively, "You haven't even looked in on our children and now you want to go chasing off after someone else's piglets?"

"Ah...well..." Ryoga colored slightly as he considered how to diplomatically extricate himself for his current dilemma.

"I think you should sit this one out, Ryo-kun," Nabiki insisted, "You can be our backup in case we run into trouble and need a quick evacuation. Besides which we're going at the invitation of the King of the Norse Gods, to pick up a couple of lost lambs displaced from their home timeline...what could be the problem?"

"Ah...Nabiki?" her husband said nervously, "Remember what you always say whenever I drop a line like that...?"

"I can't officially authorize sending you out with a civilian on what could be a difficult mission," Windsor remarked, "But I know better than to go against your judgement, Tendo-er...Saotome. Gods, it's gonna take me a while to get used to that..."

"I'm sure we'll all manage, Chief," Ryonami said sweetly.

"Yeah, just turn your back and pretend this is a normal assignment," Ranma urged, "C'mon, Kid, let me show you how your Old Man does his stuff."

"All right!" Ranko cheered with all the enthusiasm of a young girl being asked to join her parents on an adventure, "I won't get in the way, I promise, you'll see what I can do, Pop..."

"Just be sure to listen to your mother," Ranma murmured at the level of a conspiratorial whisper, "You live longer that way and she's easier to deal with."

"I heard that," Nabiki growled before adding to Ryonami, "I've transferred the coordinates to your station, now all that remains is for you to work the transmatter."

"Just make sure Ranko-chan is wearing that bracelet you gave her," Ryonami urged, "I'll be able to monitor her from any remote site and I'll be prepared to do a recall if she starts to pull an unscheduled fade-out."

"Thank you," Nabiki gave her lieutenant an approving nod before getting up from her station and offering her new husband her arm, "Shall we be off to save the Multiverse again?"

"Why not," Ranma said as he linked his arm with hers, "Got nothing better to do at the moment, unless it involves screwing your brains out."

"That was supposed to be my line," Nabiki countered before taking Ranko by the hand and leading the way to the nearest Transmat station...

Continuum #3742196 Gladsheim, Jotenheim District.

Roll Call:

Sayo Sanosuke-Only daughter of Ranma and Kasumi from Continuum #47512936 Hiroshi Honsamu-Son of Maki Renzeboro and Takia, a woman of the Dark World

"What the...?" Hiroshi exclaimed as he stared around at their present surroundings, "Where are we?"

"I do not know," replied his lovely companion, "Clearly this is not the office of Vice Principle Daisuke, but how did we arrive here?"

"There was...something..." Hiroshi hesitated to name his suspicions, "Did you feel like there was a tingling in the air just before we arrived here?"

"Why yes," Sayo replied, "But...where exactly are we?"

Hiroshi had to concede that this was a very good question, though to appearances it would seem to his eyes that they stood outside of a pair of massive stone walls inside an enclosure that had the appearance of the inner gates of a mighty castle whose architectural framework did not seem at all Japanese in his opinion. Before them stood a pair of lacquered wooden gates that stood at least ten-possibly as much as twenty meters tall, and formed in such a way that they looked both thick, formidable and solid. To their opposite side was another set of nearly identical gates, only differing in that they were apparently on the inner side of this to judge from the mighty oaken beam that lay braced across a pair of iron holders.

"I don't know where we are," Hiroshi sniffed the air then said, "But it sure doesn't smell like any part of Tokyo. It feels...different in some way, and the air has such a heady aroma..."

"I know what you mean," Sayo agreed, "And the sky is so blue...I've never seen anything quite so vivid."

"Well...wherever we are, we seem to be trapped here but good," Hiroshi determined, "Those gates look like they would need an army just to move them, and I think I see a large wooden beam through the gap between the two halves that looks as thick as a redwood..."

"Well," Sayo said, "Since we seem to be in the outer bailey of a castle, it stands to reason that the way in is that way."

"Yeah, but how are we going to ring the bell to let anyone know we're here?" Hiroshi wondered as he shaded his eyes to stare up at the tops of the stone ramparts, "Doesn't look to me like there's anybody on duty."

Sayo turned to the gates and said, "It would seem impolite not to let anyone know that we're here, but I see no other recourse but to go that way."

"Go?" Hiroshi replied, "But I just said that thing is sealed as tight as a..."

Sayo reached down to her Sakaba blade and drew it in a flash, reversing the blade so that the sharpened end stood outward and completing the arc of her swing before Hiroshi even had time to register that she had drawn it.

And a moment later the two halves of the gate began to slowly swing inward by a fraction. Sayo resheathed her blade and started forward, even as Hiroshi hesitated for several seconds before at last managing to gasp out the word, "...Drum?"

A sound like thunder in the distance echoed his word and drowned out anything that Sayo might have said in reply. Sayo paused to incline her head as she scanned the inner courtyard and then she said, "Oh my...that sounds like somebody cheering. I wonder where all the people are at? This castle looks mostly deserted."

Hiroshi also took note of how deserted the yard before them appeared to be, but more impressive to him by far was the sight of a long-house shaped building whose style of architecture looked to his eyes to be of Danish or Norwegian manufacture...albeit the scale was altogether overwhelming.

"HALT!" a voice suddenly called down to them.

"WHO GOES THERE?" echoed a similar voice of equal depth and timbre.

"Oro?" Sayo responded, peering up at what they had mistaken for a pair of column to find them attached to a body that continued to stretch upward.

To Hiroshi's considerable horror, these figures appeared to be just under ten meters in height and were heavily armored in scale mail and leather, and their bearded faces definitely appeared more mobile than any animonic puppetry he had ever viewed at an amusement park, such as his parents once took him to when he was little.

"WELL THEN?" one of these two giant figures bellowed out, "SPEAK UP...FENRIS GOT YOUR TONGUE?"

"Excuse me?" Sayo asked, "We were lost and hoping maybe you could tell us where we are..."

"SO," the other towering form rumbled out, "WE'VE GOT A PAIR OF GATE CRASHERS COMING IN LATE, HUH? AND I SUPPOSE YOU FORGOT TO BRING YOUR TICKETS?"

"Tickets?" Hiroshi replied in growing confusion.

"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH US, KID," the first of the two giants called down, "YOU THINK WE DON'T KNOW A COUPLE OF CHEAPSCATES TRYING TO SNEAK IN WITHOUT PAYING ADMISSION WHEN WE SEE THEM? WE MUST GET ABOUT TWO DOZEN OF YOU EVERY GAME..."

"YEAH," the other giant agreed, "AND IF I ONLY HAD A SHEKEL FOR EVERY TIME THEY TRIED USING THAT OLD, 'EXCUSE ME, BUT WE'RE LOST' ROUTINE..."

"But we are lost," replied Sayo, "It was not our intention to trespass, but we arrived here rather suddenly and I'm afraid no one told us that we needed to pay for admission."

"WELL, THAT LAST PART'S A NEW ONE, YOU'VE GOT TO ADMIT," one giant confided in the other.

"WHAT'S SHE THINK WE WERE BORN LAST MILLENNIUM OR SOMETHING?" the other giant agreed, "YOU EXPECT US TO BELIEVE THAT YOU JUST WARPED IN HERE WITHOUT AN INVITATION AND TRIED TO SNEAK PAST THE ADMISSION GATE JUST AS THE BIG GAME WAS ABOUT TO START..."

"Excuse me?" Hiroshi raised a hand as if asking for permission to speak, "You keep saying that there's a game...what game is that?"

"AS IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW!" snorted one of the pair of giants.

"FOOTBALL, YOU HALF-WIT!" the other giant answered, "IT'S THE SEASONAL PLAY-  
OFFS, GODS VERSUS THE GIANTS! JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY IN THE NINE WORLDS KNOWS THAT!"

"YEAH," the other giant confirmed, "AND OUR TEAM HAS THE HOME COURT ADVANTAGE...SO WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"Sanosuke Sayo," Sayo promptly replied, bowing in proper Japanese politeness, "A travelling Rouronin."

"Ah...my name's Hiroshi," Hiroshi spoke up, "Honsamu Hiroshi, at your service."

"SAYO?" one giant repeated, "HIROSHI? WHAT KIND OF NAMES ARE THAT?"

"SOUNDS FOREIGN TO ME," the other giant shrugged, "BUT THEN THESE HUMAN NAMES ALL SOUND ALIKE TO ME, TOO SHORT LIKE THE REST OF THEM, NOT AT ALL PROPER NAMES LIKE US GIANTS..."

"Oh?" Sayo asked, "Then what are your names, if I may be so bolt as to ask, Sirs?"

"I'M HIEMI THURGOOD IRONBONESON," one giant shrugged at his companion, "AND THIS IS MY COUSIN, TOBOLD HAMMERFELL VINEGRAPE OF THE MORROW, IN SERVICE TO HIS LORDSHIP, BORRON SEIGHELM JOTENSGOOD OF THE RHINE."

"How nice to meet you," Sayo bowed again, "Can you tell us where we might find your lordship so that we may pay our respects and ask pardon for our trespass?"

"WELL..." one of the giants looked dubiously at his companion.

"DON'T SEE WHAT HARM IT WOULD BE," the other giant shrugged, "THEY DON'T EXACTLY LOOK LIKE THEY'RE HERE TO STORM THE CASTLE AND MAKE OFF WITH OUR WOMEN."

"Oh," Sayo seemed genuinely surprised by this, "I would never do anything like that."

"Ah...we're just a couple of humble pilgrims," Hiroshi added, hoping that the cyclopean pair would buy it.

"A COUPLE OF MENDICANTS," one giant said in disgust, "PROBABLY COULDN'T EVEN AFFORD TO PAY..."

"WELL, I FOR ONE DON'T THINK IT'D BE WORTH THE PAPERWORK TO TRY AND ARREST THEM," his companion shrugged, "AND WE'RE THE ONES WHO DREW SHORT SHIFT FOR THIS POST..."

"GOOD POINT," the other giant agreed, "NOT EXACTLY LIKE HIS LORDSHIP PAYS US ALL THAT WELL. ALL RIGHT, YOU TWO CAN PASS, BUT DON'T DRAW ANY ATTENTION TO YOURSELVES, YOU GOT THAT?"

"Oh, we won't," Hiroshi assured them, hoping that he was being entirely honest because that was certainly his intention.

"You are both most kind," Sayo bowed graciously to the giants, who seemed taken aback by her polite and differential nature, "We will put in a good word for you if anyone asks about us. A good day to you both."

Hiroshi was unable to believe their good fortune as he and Sayo walked past these towering figures without being troubled, but he did catch one giant rumbling to the other, "A NICE KID...KIND OF REMINDS ME OF ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS."

"IF ONLY MORE HUMANS HAD THAT MUCH RESPECT FOR THE ELDERS," the other agreed in comradely fashion, "COULD THE OTHER ONE LOOKED A LITTLE TOO MUCH LIKE A MONK TO ME..."

"PRIESTS," the first of the two giants snorted, "GO FIGURE!"

For some reason Hiroshi found himself bristling at the implied slight to his manhood, but he fought the urge to go back and dispute the point, reckoning it was not worth the trouble, and besides which he had to keep watch over Sayo...the girl was acting as though they were in a public park or something. She was also leading them towards the large wooden structure ahead of them from whence they could hear more thunderous cheering.

It only belatedly occurred to him that the place looked big enough to be a sporting arena.

Sure enough, once they wandered past the inner gates, they found themselves in a crowded stadium with rows and rows of bleachers filled to capacity by a howling mob that ranged in appearance from the hideous to the merely intimidating. People dressed like extras in a movie set for some fancy Middle Age Renaissance ball commingled with an assorted range of humanoid shapes that were truly astonishing in their variety and manner of appearance. There were beings who seemed to fit the descriptions of Fairies, Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Hobgoblins and even Ogres, and quite a few large people who could well have been the brethren of the two guards they had met at the gate, all cheering and howling like crazed animals as they gazed at a grassy field stretching out at the center of the arena. There were chalk-drawn lines signifying a playing field with two goal posts at the opposite ends...and on the field itself were two rows of contending armored figures, one group easily twice as tall as the other, yet both sides equally matched for sheer presence.

Given all of that it seemed odd that a fellow passing by these rows of creatures did not seem so very out of place as he harked his wares, tossing out bags of popcorn and peanuts, not to mention tube-shaped brown objects that only dubiously resembled sausages in rye bread buns. Quite a few in the audience were holding up wine tankards as huge as oil drums so that another fellow passing by was able to fill them with amber fluid poured from a large goat's horn, one that hardly seemed to have the capacity to produce such an infinite bounty.

"Oro," he heard his companion say over the cacophony of the mob, and for the life of him he could not think of any other word to summarize his own feelings at the moment.

"Well, what are you two gawking at?" a harsh voice grunted at their backs, surprising both teenagers as they turned to see a face that was nothing less that utterly hideous. The complexion on this creature had a distinctively greenish tinge and was wrinkled beyond the encrustation of a barnacle. Two black-rimmed eyes shaped like rotten eggs peered at them from beneath a mop of straw-like hair as the misshapen creature stood carrying a tray full of drinks and concessions. Adding to the general confusion of this affect was the T-shirt the creature was wearing, sporting a gruesome embroidery showing an Orc lifting up a severed human head while planting a foot on the body with the sub-titled caption, "GO TEAM!" in easily translated English.

"Er..." Hiroshi found himself utterly at a lack of words, but once again Sayo surprised him by acting incredible calm under the most impossible of situations.

"Oh, we're sorry if we are blocking your way, Sir," she bowed, "But we are looking for someplace to sit down...and it seems that all of the available spaces have been taken."

"Well, what did you expect?" the creature snorted, "It's the playoffs! Gaah, tell you what, help me carry this junk to my buddies and I'll find out a couple of seats. It's the least you can do for making me miss the opening kick-off for the quarter."

"Ah...yes," Hiroshi began to say when the creature handed him a massive tankard that felt like thirty kilograms at least and might as well be made of solid gold (which he reckoned was not entirely out of the question).

Sayo politely accepted a bucket of buttered popcorn the size of a good sized wash tub and the pair of them made way to allow the creature to ample past, then dutifully followed him as he selected one row of seats and tried to squeeze his misshapen bulk between the legs of those who were already seated.

At last they came to a free space just wide enough for the creature to sit down, and then a group of other figures all turned to him with expectant expressions as he passed along his booty, including the goods that Hiroshi and Sayo had obligingly carried.

"Nice work, Kid," the creature said amid the general hubbub of expectation that filled the stadium while the players on the field commenced to huddle, "Didn't spill a drop or waste a bit of pop-corn. Name's Cornrow...and these are my buddies, Silksnatch, Gargagan and Pummel."

"Charmed," said a blonde haired, dusky skinned female with large almond eyes of vivid lavender, almost too beautiful and exotic with her oddly slanted features, pointed ears and air of indeterminable youth as she gave both Hiroshi and Sayo a smile of ultimate sweetness.

"Howzitgoin'," grunted a hulking red-hued brute whose features would have stopped many a Swiss clock right down to the first timepiece."

"Likewise," muttered a stocky short barrel of a man who could not have been much more than a meter in height and almost as much in girth as he stuffed his face with a fistful of relish-smothered sausage.

"Pleased to meet you," Sayo bowed without seeming in any way to dissemble, "I am Sanosuke Sayo, and my companion is Honsamu Hiroshi. We are travelers from Japan...only...excuse me for saying this, but I thought you said that there would be a place for us to sit?"

"Sure thing," Cornrow replied, then turned to a pair of thoroughly drunk kobolds and calmly bashed their heads together, then tossed them down onto the floor and used them to prop up his feet like a pair of footstools, "Make yourselves comfortable, and don't stand there like a couple of slackers."

"Ah..." Sayo seemed dubious as she eyed the groaning pair of recumbent kobolds.

"We'd be honored," Hiroshi promptly spoke on her behalf, then took her firmly by the arm and guided her to sit down beside him, trying not to be too conscious of the fact that her hand felt soft, smooth and warm to his touch, only lightly callused at the palm and fingers where obviously a sword had been gripped on many an occasion.

"What have I missed so far?" the Troll beside them asked his companion.

"Ah, not much," the ruddy-skinned Ogre replied through a pair of wicked looking tusks, past which he had been shoveling huge fists full of popcorn, "Odsgood Kelwin tried making an end run play but he got cut off at the knees by the defense. They're stitching him back together even as we speak with the rest of the casualties, he should be fit enough to complete the rest of the season."

"Of course the Gods retaliated by taking down Ralwood Axetree," the drawven fellow named Pummel related with his mouth-half-full of questionable gristle, "Socked him a good one between the eyes, near split-his skull I reckon. Took at lest five ogres to haul his carcass off the playing field but if they get him to a Healer in time he should be able to count to at least two fingers by nightfall."

"Didn't know he was that well educated," the dusky skinned Drow woman smirked slyly, then turned an appraising look towards Hiroshi as she added, "You say you come from Japan? Do I take it to mean, then, that you are friends of Lyn Raikou?"

"Of who?" Sayo blinked her eyes once, and Hiroshi could have sworn he heard a sound effect when she did so.

"Lyn Raikou Kuno Freyasdaughter," the Troll beside them replied while munching on some chocolate eyeballs, "The Rising Star of Asgardian Pro Football. She's the Tight End on her team, and they call her the Blue Lightning, for reasons that ought to be apparent to anyone who's seen her fencing."

"You say she's from Japan?" Hiroshi remarked in dull wonder.

"Her father's Japanese," the Ogre noted bluntly, "Comes from some out-of-the-way hole on Midgard called Nerima. Mother's Freya, of course, the Goddess of Love and Battles..."

"They say in human years she's still in High School," the drawven Pummel related, "Human kids just grow up too fast these days, not that I can figure out why they need schoolin' beyond learning how to work in the mines like honest people."

"Nerima?" Sayo remarked, "How very odd...that's where we just came from, but I'm afraid we don't know anyone by the name of Lyn Raikou Kuno Freyasdaughter."

"We just arrived in town when we...found our way here," Hiroshi hastily amended, "Er...by here I take it that this is...?"

"You must be lost, kid, if you don't know Jotenheim," the Troll beside them turned to give them a disturbing lookover, "And just what in the name of Hela's beautician are a couple of Babes in the Woods doing attending a game if you're not from Valhalla or Asgard?"

"Maybe they are guests of his lordship," Silksnatch purred slyly.

"Yeah, and I'm the King of the Fairies," Gargagan snorted.

"Er...excuse me if I ask a question," Sayo responded, "But I'm afraid I am not too familiar with this game. What is it called again?"

"Football."

"Oh," Sayo paused politely, then added innocently, "Is it called that because the ball is shaped like a foot?"

Hiroshi marveled at the incredible sight of half a stadium full of people (?) all executing a facefault in perfect synchronization.

"No," Pummel replied-or so Hiroshi assumed that this is what he said as the dwarf spat out a mouthful of reconstituted entrails.

"Oh," Sayo replied, "So...what is it called that?"

"Because you kick the ball with your foot," Silksnatch politely answered.

"Oh," Sayo noted, and seemed satisfied with that answer.

"Ah..." Hiroshi felt the need to say something, so he spoke the first words that came into his mouth, "Sorry...she's a bit sheltered."

"No fooling," Gargagan noted dryly, "How exactly did you two dim-bulbs meet?"

"At Furinkan High School," Sayo replied, "I am on a quest to discover the identity of the persons who may have murdered my grandfather."

"Oh, a Quest," Pummel nodded sagely, "Well, here's hoping you find the buggers and given 'em a free trip to Niffleheim. Now if you guys don't mind I'm trying to watch the game here."

"Oh my," Silksnatch smiled as she studied the field once again, "I do believe they are going to attempt that tired old play, the 'Colossus of Rhodes.'"

"The Greek Maneuver?" Cornrow scoffed, "That play never works even when the Olympians try it!"

Sayo and Hiroshi sat in dumbfounded amazement as one of the giants fell back and suddenly assumed a position reminiscent of a giant statue. Another member of his team race around behind him and snatched an oblong-shaped object that was pointed at both ends and started running as fast has his huge stride would allow him, the playing field shaking with each massive footfall. He only got partway past the struggling masses of the other players when an object shaped like a hammer came out from no where and struck him on the forehead, causing him to fall like a rotting timber.

"Hah, I toldja," Cornrow seemed enormously satisfied with being proved right, "And they say professional sports is too brutal..."

"That Modi Hammersen is the best defense they've got on the Asgardians," Gargagan said in evident praise, "Never lets an opponent slip past him...at least not while he's still breathing."

"That was the fourth play," Silksnatch explained to the round-eyed Sayo and Hiroshi, "Now the Asgardians can switch from defense to offense, and you should get to see Lyn Raikou play now. She really is a trooper, a regular Valkyrie in training."

"Oro," Sayo remarked in evident wonder.

Hiroshi only nodded in silent agreement.

Sure enough a figure dressed in a curious form of armor that somehow blended Viking styles with traditional Japanese strode out onto the field, earning cheers and praise from the crowd on both sides. Even the hulking members of the opposite team seemed to pause in order to study her as the redheaded beauty took her place in formation next to men and women who gave the term "statuesque blondes" an entirely new meaning. The Asgardian side seemed almost to glow radiantly in shining contrast to the brutal looking giants, and if one were to merely judge by appearances it did not seem like a fair match pitting the shorter team against the larger, yet somehow the score for the game so far had been effectively a tie, which implied that there was more going on here than would meet with appearance.

"My money's on Lyn getting the ball on the first pass," Cornrow said eagerly.

"You're on," Gargagan responded, "Odds favor that Hogun Vidarsblade will go for the long pass, unless somebody Maces him like the last time."

"By the way," Silksnatch turned to Hiroshi yet again, "There's something about your manners that suggests to me that you are a Priest of some order. To which God do you hail for a patron?"

"Ah...well..." Hiroshi shrugged, "I'm Shinto...so I tend to believe in the spirits of nature..."

"Sounds almost like a Druid to me," Pummel grunted.

"Well..." Hiroshi paused at feeling slighted once again, which may have been why he let slip the fact, "To tell the truth, my Dad's a Black Guard..."

"Those bums?" Cornrow made a rude noise, "Forget it, Kid, they never even made it to the play-offs."

"Your dad a famous warrior or something?" Gargagan wondered, "Any songs or ballads sung in his honor?"

"Well...not exactly," Hiroshi amended, "But I've heard Mom sing his praises on more than one occasion..."

"That usually enough for me," Pummel laughed in a rude and suggestive manner, "You're all right, kid, even if you look like a Monk. Hope for your girlfriend's sake you're not sworn to celibacy or any of that modern-day crap."

"Oh," Sayo colored slightly, "We've only just met...we're...not really together as such..."

"Oh yeah?" Cornrow looked speculatively at her, "Then howsabout after the game you and me take a little walk under the bleachers."

"To do what?" Sayo asked in completely unfeigned innocence.

"Hey!" Hiroshi felt his nape hairs rise on end as the Demonic side of his heritage threatened to overcome his priestly training.

The troll ignored the implied threat and continued, "Oh...look for loose change, check the undersides of the scaffolding...that sort of thing if you know what I'm saying."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're saying," Sayo looked apologetic.

Gargagan did not bother to hide a laugh at the expense of his colleague even as Pummel smirked and Silksnatch said, "Shot down like a roe buck. I like this one...she's got a 'sweetness and light' edge that I find rather appealing."

"Look here!" Hiroshi got out of his seat and confronted the creature, "That's no way for you to talk to a lady! Sanosuke-san is a proper woman and you just can't proposition her like you would a common streetwalker...not that I'm implying anything against working women, of course..."

"Heh," Cornrow casually rose from his own seat and picked up Hiroshi with one hand about his throat, his arm proving long enough that it easily made up for his general shortness in stature, "I think you want to play the hero, and it's not like I blame you, but if you think you can tell me a thing or two about picking up the ladies you've got another think coming."

"Cornrow-san," Sayo stood up with an ease that belied her gentle manners, "Please put him down, I do not wish to see Hiroshi-san be injured."

"So, you do like the kid after all, huh?" Cornrow grinned, then casually gave Hiroshi a toss that sent the young man flying into the arena.

"Hiroshi-san!" Sayo cried out even as her hand went to the hilt of her weapon, and since she could perceive the Troll was reaching to grab her by the hand she reacted according to her training and dealt with him as she would an enemy, her Sakaba blade flying out in a rapid quick-draw that took the creature by surprise and knocked him sidelong into the laps of Gargagan and Pummel.

Not pausing to think about her actions, Sayo then vaulted out from the bleachers and used the top of a giant's head to provide her a platform as she moved to catch up with his tumbling form, not wanting to see the youth be injured on the landing.

"Hah!" the Ogre grinned down at the half-stunned Troll, "She nailed you a good one!"

"Guess some girls just talk soft and carry a big pig sticker, huh?" the Dwarf added gruffly.

"Hey, don't laugh," Cornrow groaned as he felt along the bruises left by the blunt edge of an inward turning Samurai blade, "It ain't funny that I'm losing my sex appeal..."

"Better luck next time," Silksnatch purred, her eyes tracking the movements of the intriguing pair who had just gone up several notches in her silent appraisal.

Hiroshi had only been momentarily stunned by the sudden actions of the Troll but was not so badly affected that he would behalf like the proverbial limp dishrag. Midway through his flight he fell back upon his training, tumbling like an acrobat in the air as he instinctively judged the distance to the ground and applied a bit of his Psychokinesis to slow his momentum down so that his landing would not be too jarring. He was more than a little surprised, though, to find Sayo had almost arrived ahead of him, landing close to where he was came to rest with a look of genuine concern that seemed directed towards his welfare.

"Are you all right?" they asked each other in tandem.

"HEY!" a harsh voice barked in their direction, "WHAT IN FRIGGA'S NAME ARE YOU TWO DOING JUMPING ONTO THE PLAYING FIELD?"

"Uh oh," Hiroshi murmured as he took stock of the seven foot tall wall of armored flesh that was presently barking in their direction, a bearded fellow who looked like he obtained his amusement by twisting railroad ties into pretty bow shapes.

"Excuse us, please," Sayo bowed to the hulking berserker, "We did not mean to interrupt your game, but..."

"But nothing!" the armor-clad figure shouted, clearly not as easily charmed by Sayo's natural grace as some people, "You're disrupting my play, not to mention running my time out off the clock, so get your butts back up there into the stadium or I'm having security boot you off the Bifrost bridge, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

"Ah...Coach?" one of the Viking-clad players standing near to the towering figure of rage timidly ventured.

"WHAT?" said Coach barked at him, causing the other man's long braided hair to briefly stand horizontal.

"The Referee just called a time-out," the blonde player responded, "He said our backfield was in motion, or something like that..."

"WHAT?" the Coach seemed even more enraged than ever, which was certainly saying something, "ARE YOU BLIND, REF?"

"Excuse me?" asked said Referee in arched tones, a white-bearded man who was wearing a blindfold (and usually went by the name of Hodur).

The Coach seemed to waver as he slowly started to think it over, then said, "Never mind...who was it this time, Raikou?"

"You know anybody else whose backfield is worth seeing in motion?" the blond man responded.

"Yeah, my wife, but don't let anybody tell her I said that," he glared in chilling warning at the rest of his players, who seemed to take great interest in just about anything but their Coach at that particular moment.

"Raikou, get down here now!" the Coach barked, and almost instantly the young Valkyrie they had spotted before from the bleachers manifested in the space beside him.

"You summoned me, my lord?" she asked.

"Didn't I tell you to wait until the Quarterback calls the play before you move that cute little fanny?" the Coach barked at her, "Now because of you we're back five yards on the play!"

"Sorry," the redheaded girl replied sheepishly, "I guess that was reflex..."

"You are from Nerima?" Sayo suddenly spoke up, drawing attention back in her direction.

"Why yes," the young goddess named Raikou replied, "Why do you ask?"

"Do you know a house belonging to the family of Tendo?" Sayo continued.

"Know them?" the goddess blinked, "I go to school together with Tendo Odorite, my best friend in the human world of my father..."

"WHAT IS THIS?" the Coach suddenly roared, "A social encounter? We got a game to win here, and I thought I told you losers to beat it?"

"Sorry, Sugar," a pleasantly sensual voice purred as a form shimmered into the space beside them, resolving itself into the stunning shape of an incredibly beautiful woman whose hair was strawberry blond and as lustrous as gold fibers, "But I think you may be making a mistake. These two are here as guests of mine and I invited them to come down here."

"Lady Freya?" the Coach was instantly all manners and deferential, "I had no idea...no one told me you were having mortals over as guests..."

"I thought my daughter could have some encouragement from her classmates," the radiant beauty smiled as she drawled the words with a distinctively southern accent, "You wouldn't begrudge my Lyn from having her fans be in attendance?"

"My what?" the Valkyrie girl in question blinked her eyes then glanced at Hiroshi and Sayo, "These two are my fans?"

"Ah...well..." Hiroshi stammered.

The referee blew the whistle and said, "Let's play ball, no more time-outs for the quarter!"

"That's all right with me," the Coach barked out as he turned back to the rest of his players, "No quarter give, no quarter asked, now get out there and kick some Jotenheim butt!"

"YES SIR!" came the near-universal response from the players.

"So," Freya purred as she sidled up alongside Sayo and Hiroshi, "You two hail from Nerima, eh? Funny, I don't remember seeing you two abouts, though you at least remind me of a good friend of mine by the name of Kasumi..."

"Tendo Kasumi was my mother," Sayo replied, "Or so I have been told...but I believe she changed her last name to Saotome."

"Saotome?" Freya arched an eyebrow, "I don't think that's too likely, Sugar, and come to think of it there is something about y'all that seems not altogether right, like you're not really where you ought to be, and by that I don't just mean you being from Midgard."

"I don't understand, Mother," Lyn Raikou spoke up, "If these two are from my school, then why don't I remember seeing them before."

"Ah...I just transferred this morning," Hiroshi said, "While Sanosuke-  
san...well..."

"I have not been attending the public school system," Sayo replied, "I was raised by my Master, Hiko Seijiro..."

"Hiko Seijiro?" Freya grinned, "What has that scoundrel been up to all these years? Still hiding out in the hills around Kyoto pretending to be a harmless pottery sculptor?"

"You know Master Seijiro?" Sayo asked in amazement.

"Known him for over a hundred years or more, off and on," Freya replied, but before she could elaborate, the blond haired man who had spoken before interrupted with a, "What in the name of the Nine Worlds...who are those people?"

"Eh?" Freya turned to stare where the younger man was pointing, "Well...if that don't beat all...what are they doing out here, and appearing like that on the twenty yard line?"

"Who?" Hiroshi asked.

"Saotome Ranma, as I live and breathe," Freya reported, shading her eyes as she added, "And that looks like Nabiki standing next to him...and could that be someone else I know? Hmmm...not quite right, but then I'll bet they'll be in for a rude surprise in the next couple of heartbeats..."

And of course her words proved to be entirely prophetic.

"What the Hell?" Ranma exclaimed as he and his companions discovered themselves in some very unexpected surroundings.

"Where the heck are we?" Ranko asked, "Is this a soccer field or something?"

"Uh oh," Nabiki hastily consulted her wrist scanner, "I think Ryonami made a miscalculation on the temporal coordinates...I believe we may have arrived somewhat prematurely...about a half an hour ahead of Lore Odin's invitation."

"Swell," Ranma turned to survey the full arena, "Only what the heck is the deal here? Looks like a costume convention of some kind and..." all at once he sensed an object hurtling towards him, and automatically spread his hands wide in time to catch said object.

"What the heck is that, Pop?" Ranko asked, staring at the oddly shaped pigskin.

"Looks like an American football to me," Nabiki answered, then turned her head and added, "Uh oh..."

"Huh?" Ranma turned to follow his wife's stare, just in time to see a stampede of giants and gods bearing down on his position. He just barely managed to get out the words, "Oh-Sh-" before the onslaught overran his position...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Football Casualties of Heaven: shadowmane

The champion of the past and the future continue their quest to discover the identity of the one responsible for playing hob with the Timelines, but is the one they are seeking a friend or foe, and why is he moving the earth and heavens to achieve his enigmatic schemes? Find out more on this and other question next time in, "Countdown to Infirmary," or "The Jug is Up!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works.


	7. Chapter 7

RanCubed06

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

Chapter Six.

Crosswinds of Destiny

Continuum # 73542196

Senzenin Muku Dori enjoyed the summer months when her Uncle let her work in the construction yard, mastering equipment that technically should have required a more seasoned Labor Pilot, not that the work was all that difficult as Muku had a great affinity for machines and knew how to work one as good as any fully licensed worker. Being an apprenticed Technical Laborer with her Vocational Careers Outreach program, she enjoyed the special dispensation this status granted her so that she could earn some money between school breaks and buy herself some nice clothes and other things she normally couldn't afford on her allowance. It was a great experience overall, and nothing quite satisfied Muku as much a piloting a construction labor, savoring the feel of great power at her fingertips as she bonded with her machine in a way few humans could manage.

It was a knack, of course, her affinity with working in Labors. The twenty-foot tall robot mechs were like an extension of the limbs of her own body and she relished the overwhelming sense it gave her of being in control of something that expanded her natural abilities to such an extent that she truly felt like a one-woman construction crew, able to move heavy objects with ease and lift them several stories high to where other Mech Pilots could receive such payloads. Muku liked building things with her hands, had enjoyed playing with blocks and erector sets as a kid, and she looked forward to the day when she could receive her license to do this sort of thing full time. In another year she could earn her technical rating and then apply for Union membership. Her uncle expressed a willingness to take her on as a regular salaried employee, which would give her the independence she so desperately needed.

It was not so much that she minded working for her parents at the Health Spa, but getting out on her own and making her own mark in the world was the sort of adult recognition that she was after, and besides which living on her own was less likely to drive her crazy than continuing to share a roof with her mother, who regarded construction material as just something to physically reduce into rubble. They tended to get in each others way a lot and it was all Muku could do to remain a dutiful child while resisting the not-so-subtle pressure her mother kept exerting to try and convince Muku to carry on the other family tradition.

After all, the last thing Muku wanted to do with her life was to chain herself eternally to living in and out of some stupid dojo!

Muku huffed as she forced herself to pay attention to the work at hand rather than lose herself in thoughts that were entirely too distracting. It would not do to lose focus when one was lifting five metric tones of pre-cast Polysteel to the third floor of the current building project. Besides...it wasn't as if her mother could force her to love the martial arts the way she did. Muku was proficient enough in the art that she could handle herself in most matters, but she just was not as driven to achieve great things as her mother, Senzenin Akane.

Besides which, Muku had something else going on in her life right now and did not need any further distractions, not that she could confide in her great secret with either one of her two parents...

The whistle blew, signifying that it was time for everyone to go on a lunch break. Muku smiled as she parked her Labor then reached for her bento, intent on filling her face as food was her natural "drug" of choice for taking her mind away from her problems. Few who knew her were able to understand the kind of bottomless appetite that she was cursed with, nor could they account for where she hid all those extra calories that they swore up and down that she must carry on her slender body, and "Oh how unjust it was to be gifted with such a metabolism," yadda-yadda-yadda. As if Muku enjoyed having to eat twice as much per day as other girls in her age group. All that training definitely burned the calories right out of her, and not must the Martial Arts kind either...her other training was pretty draining in its own sense, and compared to it she much preferred piloting a Labor.

Not that her other job didn't have its fair share of...interesting compensations...

She was just in the process of shoveling down the last half of her meal when a peculiar prickling sensation traveled the length of her spine, an all-too-  
familiar sense that eyes were watching her, and from very close by. Muku slurped down some tea to wash down the rice she had just eaten, then she turned on her external monitors and did a peripheral sweep until she found the party whom she was after.

"Kuso," Muku breathed, "Don't tell me an emergency has cropped up again...?"

Her bracelet jewel pulsed in silent confirmation of her suspicions, and Muku cursed under her breath as she opened the hatch to her labor and vaulted from the control deck to a relatively clear patch of ground, then straightened up and turned to regard her partner, Kano Rhea, who greeted her warmly with her eyes before staring at the ground and coloring slightly, just like a regular human.

Of course regular humans did not have the pointed ears or unusually large eyes that distinguished her partner and gave her a somewhat Elven appearance. Rhea had dark amber hair and reddish brown eyes and was just a little bit taller than Muku in spite of her demure behavior. Her friend eyed her demurely with a soft half-smile before staring at their feet and did not immediately look up again when Muku addressed her directly.

"What's the deal this time?" Muku asked, "Another attack on the city?"

"No...not exactly," Rhea shyly raised her eyes to meet Muku's questioning gaze, and then the wonder and exhilaration of their shared contact briefly filled both young women until Rhea managed to look away again and add, "Mother instructed me to bring you to her. She says we are facing a crisis of unknown character and she wants us to stand ready with the others."

"That's just swell," Muku sighed, "And today was supposed to be my day off from training. I hope you guys realized that this is gonna cost me points with my new boss."

"I know," Rhea said demurely, "And I'm sorry...to inconvenience you..."

Muku found it impossible to get irritated with her partner, nor could she stand to see her friend like that, so she spoke up more positively, intending to cheer the other girl as she said, "What have you got to be sorry about? It's not like it's your idea to create these emergencies, they just happen. Of course I'll come with you, just give me a moment to clear things up with Chusu-san."

"Of course," Rhea agreed, "Take your time, I'll be ready."

In spite of being annoyed at having her day once again be disrupted by the Hidden Agenda, she found herself smiling at Rhea right before she caught sight of her immediate supervisor and called out to him, "Hey, Chusu-san! Something's come up and I need to take off for a while. Okay if I go home early?"

"Again?" her supervisor reacted, "That's the third time this week! How do you expect to get your technical rating if you're always ducking off to spend time with your girlfriend?"

"Sorry," Muku clapped her hands together in apology, "I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

Her supervisor grumbled sourly, "Well...all right, but I swear, if you weren't the Boss's niece I'd report you for this..."

"Thanks!" Muku called out as she grabbed Rhea by the hand and started running, "See you!"

They ducked around the nearest isolated corner of the construction yard and then Muku said, "Do it."

"Hai," Rhea agreed, and all at once they were surrounded by the brief coruscating effect of a trans-warp jump through the Subspace Fold that the amber-haired girl created with her powers, and then they remanifested again at Earthstation Alpha, the underground complex that was the center of C'thuwulf activity on Terra. Here was the Hidden Agenda's secret headquarters located far beneath the Tokyo region, the home away from home of the Earth based Colonial project that enabled Terrans and C'thuwulf to interact on a more-or-less amicable basis.

It was also Rhea's home, having been born here as one such successful mating of a Terran with a C'thuwulf, and one of her mothers was the Unit Project Director herself, Kano Nagisa. Her other mother, of course, was the unit's near-  
legendary defender and the savior of her people.

Neither one of them was there on duty to greet them, however, instead it was deputy unit director Sepia who appeared to be on monitor duty, along with her partner of many years, Major Cobalt Astura.

"Hey, what's up?" Muku asked as she glanced around the battle-ready complex, seeing swarms of technicians and operators manning (or, to be more accurate, WOMAN-ing) their posts in the highly advanced nerve central, "Where are your folks at if this is supposed to be a crisis?"

"Ah well..." Rhea replied a bit awkwardly.

"Matrix Commander Prime was undergoing her regeneration cycle when we first had an inkling of the crisis," reported Captain Kagusa Kawaii of the Iczellion Corps Mobile Forces, "Director Kano was with her at the time and it seemed...less than prudent to wake them until we had a better understanding of our current situation."

"I asked your Partner to summon you, Cadet Senzenin," Vice Director Sepia turned to inform her, "This crisis may not turn out to be as serious as first indicated, but I thought it necessary to put all of our forces on immediate alert, just in case. As a junior initiate in the Iczer program it is only courtesy to have you and your partner prepped and on standby in Unit Gamma Theta, just in case your services might be needed as back-up."

"What?" Muku reacted, "You called me in to put me on standby? Do you have any idea what my Uncle is gonna do to me if he thinks I'm not taking my Labor Pilot training seriously?"

"We know we may have inconvenienced you, Cadet," Cobalt spoke up, "And we will take steps to cover for you with your Uncle. The problem facing us is very grave, however, and we cannot afford to take any chances. We have been monitoring seismic activity in the Temporal Field surrounding Terra Prime and believe it may signify yet another attempted invasion."

"We don't know yet that it might be Gold related," Sepia cautioned, "But it would not be wise to leave any avenue unexplored in that respect. Please be ready to do your part in the defense of your world, which is now our world as well. I know that you and Rhea will do your utmost..."

"Like there's any doubt we'll try?" Muku asked, then hesitated as she glanced towards her partner, who again looked shyly down at the floor, which prompted Muku to say, "If it's all the same with you people...I'd like to talk to the Unit Director and her wife. I have...a question I want to ask...it's personal, you see..."

"The Director is with the Defender Prime," Cobalt calmly repeated, "And it would not be wise to disturb them before they have completed their regenerative cycle..."

"I wasn't thinking about disturbing them," it was Muku's turn to be hesitantly shy before adding, "But I was wondering...if you could link me up to their Unit...?"

Sepia and Cobalt exchanged looks, then Kawaii said, "I don't see that it would be a problem, Sir. I can manage the link myself so it's non-intrusive to the Robo-systems."

"Make it so," Sepia nodded, then returned the focus of her attention towards the various monitor screens keeping the C'thuwulf updated on all major Terrestrial systems.

"This way you two," Kawaii encouraged the younger pair with her usual cheerfulness, "But I just hope for your sakes that you don't catch your parents in the proverbial shower."

"Oh," Rhea blushed slightly, "Do you think that's likely?"

"Knowing your parents?" Muku rolled her eyes, "More than likely, but oh well...like you guys are always telling me...it's a crisis, get over it."

Rhea took Muku's hand and teleported them both into Gamma Theta, and once again the young Earth girl marveled at the way she could suddenly go from breathing air to total immersion in the highly Oxygenated fluid that filled the abdominal cavity of the massive Iczer Robo. She also took note of the various tubes and sensor-connectors that attached themselves to her naked skin without feeling all that intrusive about the intimate contact. She did wonder, though, why it was that her clothing always seemed to mysterious disappear when she did this, but doubted very much if Rhea would know the answer to that, let alone admit it without blushing like a radish.

Of course for Rhea this sort of environment was second nature...after all she had been grown in a tube rather than a human womb and birthed partially grown, allowed to mature in time from a stage of young adolescence to the present. Being the product of advanced C'thuwulf genetic science and recombined with the qualities of both a human and an Iczer, what was normal for her would have at one time seemed inhuman to someone like Muku...not that there was any way that Muku could bring herself to define her partner as less than fully human...

Nothing to be done for it, though, having already committed herself to this situation, so she lay back and floated in her protective capsule while waiting for the link to be established, allowing her mind to fill as images intruded over normal conscious awareness...

Slowly those images resolved into the form of a curiously alien setting, an open field surrounding a copse of trees in what seemed like either a garden or an arboretum, a starry nightfield taking shape as the fading rosy light of a setting sun gave rise to the most romantic of settings that Muku had ever personally witnessed. It was with only mild surprise that she found Rhea manifesting in the space beside her, and then the two of them shared a moment of awed wonder before she heard the young Iczer say, "How beautiful...it's the C'thuwulf homeworld! These images must have been recorded just prior to our world's destruction..."

"So, this is where your people hail from, eh?" Muku softly murmured.

"Many years before my creation," the young Iczer replied, "But the memories are stored within me. This is what our world was like before the evil Virus program known as Gold arose to contaminate our systems. This is the world my mother fought for and lost so very, very long ago, and I know the memory of it still haunts her. This is also where she lost her first partner..."

Muku silently acknowledged this with implicit understanding of what losing a partner could mean to an Iczer. Iczer One had suffered grievously in loss and remorse while leading a colony ship full of C'thuwulf survivors from the ruins of their homeworld on a century-long voyage that eventually brought her people to the fringes of the Earth star system. It was not until Iczer One found an Earth Girl whose biosignature she could bond with that the valiant Bioroid had learned to love again and achieve synchronization. The Gold program had briefly overtaking the C'thuwulf and came close to destroying everything, but in the end Iczer-One had prevailed with the love of Kano Nagisa inside her, and with that power she had literally remade the history of their planet, making it seem as if the curse of Big Gold had never been allowed to happen.

Or at least that was the story as Muku had heard it retold. It was decided by the C'thuwulf leader, Sir Violet, that the Earth could provide a haven for their exiled race without the need of a full scale invasion, preferring instead to establish friendly ties with the various Terran governments, who could be persuaded to see them as allies rather than adversaries. Over the past twenty years the C'thuwulf had been quietly establishing a presence upon the Earth, integrating members of their society into the various host nations that would agree to provide a home for this legal immigration, in exchange for covert technology and logistical support and no press involvement...after all, wouldn't do to set off a world-wide general panic.

The C'thuwulf were biologically close to identical with human, the major difference being that they were entirely female and reproduced by artificial means. The problem was, for this all-female society, that there turned out to be certain social difficulties that arose from interacting from a humanoid species that had two Sexes. Men were a curiosity to many C'thuwulf, and some even found men oddly threatening in their way, though more than a few were intrigued enough to adapt to a bisexual system. That was why colonization was occurring at such a slow and measured pace, requiring orientation for the new arrivals sent down from the World Ship in order to psychologically prepare them for Earth culture. To say the least it was not always a very smooth and problem-free transition...

Of far greater concern to the rulers of Earth, however, were the Iczers, the C'thuwulf ultimate Final Defense weapons, living machines capable of harnessing vast destructive forces and charged with the defense of the C'thuwulf people. Though few in number a single Iczer contained the raw power of a full battle cruiser and were the most lethal warriors on the planet. Iczer One had been powerful enough to single-handedly change the flow of time in order to repair the damages caused by Gold and his minions, the parasitic Venomoids, effectively wiping them out from reality and leaving the way clear for Humans and C'thuwulf to peacefully live together.

They did not come any more formidable in this world than an Iczer, and three of them comprised a triumvirate that were the central core of the C'thuwulf defenses.

By contrast Rhea was powerful in a way that you would hardly even suspect, given her shy and deferential nature. The biological construct that combined human and Android DNA, she was an experiment in breeding a whole new line of C'thuwulf defender, one who owed her loyalties to both people. The experiment was successful, but it did have one critical flaw in that she needed to totally bond with her partner to an extent that went well beyond even the requirements of her mother.

And that was where Muku came in, the one human in the entire world whose Biorhythms most closely matched those of this particular Iczer. They had bonded and synchronized almost from the instant of their first meeting, and now it was as if Rhea were an extension of herself rather then a free and independent person. She was human in all the ways that truly mattered except that she was artificial in construction and embodied tremendous the tremendous potential of an Iczer, who by nature were like Emotional Transducers that could convert human willforce into the greatest of all power matrices, Rhea's other half, Iczer Robo Gamma Theta.

Her musings in that area came to an abrupt halt as her companion drew her attention to one particular area in the field of the mind that they jointly experienced as though it were a physical place and not a mere construct. There were the pair that they had come in search of peacefully laying together on a spread-out blanket, evidence of a recently enjoyed picnic scattered all around them in no particular order.

"I might have guessed," Muku mused to herself, earning a silent nod from her comely Bioroid partner.

Kano Nagisa was enjoying the warmth of the golden-haired woman at her side as she combed her fingers through the lustrous hair of her beautiful wife, who was known to many only by her code name, Iczer One. To Nagisa she was Unos, the First and Prime of all her sisters, a private name they shared like a trust between them signifying everything else that they meant to one another. Large crimson eyes regarded her softly as Iczer-One studied fondly the ageless beauty of her human lover and partner of so many years. The two seemed to be so much literally into a world of their own making that they hardly even acknowledged the approach of Muku and Rhea until the former said, "Don't you guys ever get tired of doing that?"

"Eh?" Nagisa instinctively reached for the edge of their blanket to cover herself up, but her wife stilled her with a hand and smiled at her reassuringly, then turned towards Muku and said, "Is that any way for you to address yourself to a superior officer, Cadet?"

"It might be," Muku smiled slyly, enjoying this rather vivid reminder of how close in form and function an Iczer was to a human, "If I was dating her daughter. I came to ask you guys something kind of personal...and to let you know that while you two old-timers are screwing around the rest of us happen to be facing another crisis."

"What?" Nagisa sat upright, "Again? So soon after the last one? But why wasn't I informed of it...?"

"Mother's repair cycle isn't yet fully completed, Mother," Rhea replied, "Vice Director Sepia decided to give you a moment before recalling you to external reality."

"Yeah, and besides," Muku added with a tart expression, "Looks like you two had something else on your mind just as important."

"I'll ignore your impertinence, Cadet," Iczer One noted dryly, "What is it that you wanted to ask?"

"Ah...well..." Muku glanced down and sought to compose her thoughts before she answered, "It's...about your daughter...Rhea-chan. Ah...well...you see...I've been thinking it over ever since you guys brought me in on the Agenda, and given how important you say it is for the future of humanity if we...continue to combine into one people..."

"You want to propose to her, is that it?" Nagisa grinned, "And you want our blessings for a full Partnership union."

"Mother!" Rhea cried in obvious embarrassment, proving that certain things between mothers and daughters were nearly universal.

"Well, well," Iczer One sat up and regarded her prospective "Daughter-in-law-to-  
be," "Of course I approve, but I'm wondering what prompted you to make this decision. As I seem to recall you were not entirely happy about being a part of the Agenda when first approached on this subject."

"Ah...yeah...well..." Muku felt along the metaphysical back of her head with an equally metaphysical hand, never minding that everything always seemed one hundred percent real when mentally submerged into the Matrix, "It's just...during that last big fight when you got...hurt pretty bad, Commander...I had a real good look at how you and the Director cared for each other and it...kind of made me think about what's really at stake here. I mean...over the last few months I've had a really good look at the kind of a Universe we live in, which few other girls my age even know exists, and...well...it seems more than anything this war is about preserving the things that are important to humanity. Your people lost a world to the enemy, and we damned near came close to losing mine before I was even conceived! You people are totally committed to bringing about a peaceful and prosperous future that we all can share as one people, and I kind of think that's worth fighting for. I know Rhea feels the same way, and she was born to be a soldier in this war, and since we seem to be stuck with one another, I guess...I guess I could make a go at declaring it official."

"You mean that?" Rhea suddenly declared, turning to Muku with that oddly luminous look in her eyes that could blot out the stars and replace them with entire new constellations.

"Ah...yeah...I think I do at-" Muku got no further as the Bioroid girl suddenly threw her arms around Muku's body, all shyness and hesitation at once banished as a joy beyond words suffused her artificial being. Her lips pressed down upon the human girl with a gentle strength that momentarily blotted out all awareness that said kiss was only mental and not physical, the recreation in Virtual Space of what Rhea would unquestionably do if she and Muku were back in their real bodies.

It was an amazing discovery that Muku arrived at when conscious thought returned to her an eternity later, how much Virtual French Kissing felt like the real thing, minus the sharing of saliva...

"Hmm," she heard Director Nagisa muse from a million miles away, "I guess that makes it official."

"Young people do seem to do it with great enthusiasm these days," Iczer One agreed in her usual sardonic manner.

Muku reluctantly broke off from the kiss and said, "You're both fine ones to talk...but anyway, Vice Director Sepia was saying something about a disruption in the Timefield. Would you guys have any idea what she means by that?"

"A disruption in the Timefield?" Nagisa slowly repeated.

"It could mean several things," Iczer One murmured softly, "C'thuwulf technology is largely based on our ability to interact with the Subspace field that exists outside of normal Timespace. Whenever we merge or re-emerge from Subspace it causes a minor ripple in the Timefield, though so slight that it can barely be measured. The enemy is a little less casual about when it causes a disruption in the Timefield, so Sepia is completely justified in her concern. I will have to consult with her once my regeneration cycle is fully completed."

"I'll go on ahead and consult with her myself," Nagisa gave her wife an affectionate peck on the cheek, "Keep the home fires burning for me, will you, Lover? I'll only be a moment."

"Of course," Iczer One squeezed her wife's virtual hand, and then Nabiki's form briefly shimmered and vanished.

"I guess that's our cue to leave," Muku noted with some reluctance.

"No, you can stay for a while if you like," Iczer One rose to her feet, and now her naked body was clad in her usual space armor, making her look considerably more impressive, "I've wanted to have the opportunity to congratulate you on the progress that you have been making in your studies. I know that it has not been an altogether easy time for you making the transition from a normal Earth Girl to a full part of the Hidden Agenda, but you are making excellent strides, and not just because you have won the affections of my daughter."

"Mother..." Rhea blushed in modesty.

"Well..." Muku also felt her cheeks color, though whether this phenomenon was real or just an effect of the Matrix she would have been at a loss to discern, "I won't say it's always been a ball of laughs, but I understand what you're trying to do here, and you've made me into a believer. I trust Rhea-chan and I know that she would never be a part of anything that was wrong or hurtful..."

"Your concerns are understandable," Iczer One replied, "And indeed, my numerous interactions with the leaders of the human world have often shown me the best and the worst your race has to offer..."

"How odd..." Rhea glanced away.

"What is it?" Muku looked at her partner with concern.

"I'm picking up disturbing sine waves surrounding Gamma Theta," the Iczer responded, "The Subspace field surrounding us is destabilizing."

"Say what?" both Muku and Iczer One said in unison.

"I can't account for it, Mother," Rhea said a bit apologetically, "We're shifting out of focus with normal Timespace and I can't seem to get a fix on the problem..."

"Try shifting the quantum frequency and see if that can help you maintain a constant balance," Iczer One directed.

"I'm trying that, Mother, but...I don't seem to be..."

All at once Muku felt as though she were being sucked out through a long tunnel, and the Virtual field all around them made a sudden Doppler shift to the red end of the spectrum, then everything went black, and with a sudden jolt she found herself back in her cockpit fully submerged in a saline-like solution.

"What...what just happened...?" she started to ask before remembering why it was a bad idea to try gasping in liquid. Then happened to she glance outside of the translucent shell that contained her current living environment, her mouth moving as the words formed from liquid rather than air, "What the hell...?"

The shimmering void that surrounded the massive Iczer Robo Gamma Theta was altogether familiar and well known to her as the Subspace field that was like a second home to an Iczer, only before they had been resting in the giant robot's cradle back at Command Central. This sudden transition, coupled with the concern that she had heard in Rhea's voice, did not inspire a great deal of confidence in the young Iczer pilot.

"We shifted to Subspace," Rhea announced, "But I can't get a fix on our dimensional readings, and no trace of the home signal that should be able to lead us back to Earthstation Alpha. We seem to be somewhat cut off at the moment, but I am unable to determine the reason for our involuntary translocation."

"Japanese please?" Muku pleaded.

"We were drawn out of the Matrix," Rhea responded, "And physically transported to these coordinates, though I am unable to determine just where we are at the present. It is rather like we were grabbed up by some unknown force and taken to a portion of subspace that does not align with our own world...though how such a thing could even be possible..."

"That's bad, huh?" Muku replied, wondering not for the first nor last time why things like this just seemed to keep happening to a nice girl from the Nerima district, and what story she was going to have to concoct if this particular emergency kept her out so late that even her parents might take notice.

Of course to look on the plus side as least she wouldn't be there to clean up in case her mother once again got it into her head to do the cooking, but then even the worst crisis was bound to have an upside...

Continuum #32145896

Roll Call:

Shanma Saotome-Eldest daughter of Shampoo and Ranma, can change into a Were-cat.  
Mace Saotome-Shanma's little brother, also has the same ability.  
Ganymede Kuonji-Hermaphrodite offspring of Ukyo and Makoto Kuonji, has Senshi abilities.  
Kinko Kuonji-Daughter of Ukyo and Akane from a near-parallel dimension.  
Kachima Tendo-Daughter of Ranma and Nabiki, Lore Master in Training.  
Kokaku Tendo-Kachima's twin sister and an Apprenticed Healer.

"Well, young lady, that certainly is quite a story you've got there."

"It's the truth, Aunt Nabiki," Kinko insisted, "You've got to believe me..."

"Actually," Nabiki replied as she studied the young girl, who-like the others-  
-had transformed back from her cursed form to that of a normal-seeming teenager, "As a matter of fact I do. I've had some experience dealing with parallel world phenomenon, and I once found myself trapped in a world whose history diverged at certain key points, and it certainly was a very...enlightening experience."

"Heh," Ranma snorted from where he stood at one corner of the room, "That's putting it mildly."

"The other Nabiki was very much like what I remember when we first met," Shampoo noted with a sly expression, "It would have been fun if she had stayed around a little longer and showing her the ropes, the way I did with you..."

"Oh my," Nabiki smirked, "I don't know whether to be jealous or worried."

"If this girl is really my sister from a parallel dimension," Ganymede spoke up, "Then what is she doing in our world, and how do we get her back to where she belongs?"

"That's what I want to know," Kinko agreed, "When those Time Police sent me back home I was supposed to arrive back where I started here in the Tendo yard...instead I wind up landing on top of Honsamu...ah...I mean...what did you say your name was again?"

"Ganymede," her paratime sibling responded.

"Ah...right," Kinko turned back towards Nabiki, "Do you think you can help me, Aunt Nabiki? Maybe you know something like a spell you can use to get me back to my real family?"

"It's definitely worth investigating," Nabiki replied, "Stick around and I'll see what I can come up with."

"Okay," Shanma spoke up, "So she's from another world...what I want to know is why Aunt Akane is her mother? I mean...no offense, but I just don't follow this business about Aunt Ukyo marrying her instead of Makoto."

"I could just as well say the same thing about him," Kinko replied with a shrug towards the she-male, "But then again, I've met alternate siblings of mine who've had even weirder origins."

"I'm not sure I wanna even ask," Ranma shuddered, "You say that this pendant wound up in the hands of a daughter of mine by AKANE? Now that's my idea of weirdness!"

"I agree that it does sound rather unlikely, Father," remarked a lovely girl by the name of Kachima, Apprenticed Lore Master and understudy to her mother, Nabiki, "But I confess to being intrigued to learn more about these other children by you from a multiple dimensions. Imagine Aunt Kodachi providing you with a daughter named Watazashi."

"I'd rather not, thanks," Ranma said with another shudder.

"It sounds like we could all be entertained and horrified with the implications of the sort of people we might have married," Shampoo added, "But it brings us no closer to solving your problems, young lady."

"Quite so," replied Kachima's twin sister, Kokaku, an apprenticed Healer, "But it also seems quite intriguing that at least some of us have exact parallels on your world, Kinko-san. You seem to know a good deal about us without prompting..."

"Yeah, well...you're family on my world," Kinko replied, "Of course we share stuff together."

"Doesn't sound much different than with me and Europa," Ganymede softly noted, "But I suppose that shouldn't be too surprising."

"Are we really going to take it for granted that this dweebazoid is the Hentai's sister from another dimension?" Mace complained, "Sure she looks and acts a lot like Sheba, but other than the wings what proof do we have that she's anything like that Harpy?"

"Harpy?" Kinko rounded on the younger Saotome, "Who are you to talk, Fur-face? And just because my mom wound up with somebody else doesn't mean I've gotta take any verbal abuse from a Tom-Cat wannabe like you!"

"Easy you two," Nabiki urged, "This isn't helping us to resolve the situation..."

"Well he started it," Kinko growled.

"That doesn't matter," Kachima said, "Little brother...you of all people should know better than to start a word fight with a guest in our house. Besides, I can vouch for mother's appraisal of this girl as being not of our frame. She obviously knows much about us to which no stranger could possibly be privy, and yet the differences she outlines are internally consistent and seem compatible with the premise of Aunt Ukyo selecting a different mate than Gany-san's mother. Sure it is not so much beyond question that Aunt Akane could have married Kuonji Ukyo and shared with her a child very like our world's Sheba."

"Hey," Ranma spoke up, "For a while there it was even looking like Ucchan might wind up with the both of them, taking a page from Sham-chan, your mother and me."

"Indeed," Nabiki agreed, "And perhaps there is yet another world where this did indeed happen..."

"Especially with the way your Celestial mother way always trying to hook them up together," Shampoo added sweetly.

"Ah...yes," Nabiki smiled a bit awkwardly, "That was indeed Mom's basic intentions..."

"Really?" Ganymede asked with some surprise, "This is the first time I've ever heard of this."

"Oh, you know Grandma Peorth, right?" Kinko said with a dismissive wave of her hand, "She's always trying to be helpful like that. You just have to take it in stride when she sometimes gets a little too carried away..."

"Don't I know it," Nabiki murmured with a mildly exasperated expression.

"Hey, wait a minute," Shanma spoke up, "If she's the daughter of Aunt Akane, then that would make her..."

"Your cousin," Ganymede finished for her, "As well as my virtual sister."

"That would mean that this Honsamu of her world is also our cousin," Kokaku noted, "Oh my...then if Aunt Akane had married Ganymede-san's father..."

"You mean he'd be our cousin?" Mace winced, "Gross!"

"Don't act as if the thought gives me any greater thrill than you, Kid," Ganymede duly noted, "If so then my desire to court your sister might constitute a clear case of incest."

"Hmph," Shanma narrowed her eyes, "As if that would improve your chances."

"What have you got against him?" Kinko rounded on Mace, "Are you upset just 'cause he wants to date Shanra?"

"Shanma," the eldest Tendo daughter corrected.

"Whatever," Kinko shrugged her slender shoulders while continuing to focus her gaze upon the younger Saotome.

"I ain't got nothing against the Hentai," Mace said rather adamantly, "I just don't think he's good enough to marry a Saotome."

"And what the hell makes you so damned perfect?" Kinko stormed as she got up off of the floor and planted a fist on top of the blue-haired boy's thick skull.

"OW!" Mace backed away to the wall rubbing his head and complaining, "Violent maniac Harpy Tomboys...!"

"Serves you right for dropping your guard around her, little brother," Kachima replied with a slight air of smug satisfaction.

"Mace-kun," Kokaku urged, "What you are saying isn't very nice, and you should hardly be surprised if you upset her. After all she is related to us and is of the house of Tendo."

"You're damned right I am, you Jackass," Kinko made a fist, "And I'm twice the martial artist that you are, so watch your tongue around me or you're gonna get a fat lip, and that goes double for any cracks you make about Honsamu!"

"Hah!" Mace rallied, "Just try it, you dumb birdbrain!"

"Children," Nabiki urged with a wagging finger, "You know the rules, not inside the house. If you are going to play rough, then take it to the dojo."

"Actually," Ranma spoke up, directing himself towards Kinko, "It just occurred to me that your folks are probably related to us on more than one angle, since according to you Ucchan and Akane are co-married to my half-brother Ryoga."

"Hiyaa, that's right," Shampoo remarked, "This Honsamu would be both a Saotome, Hibiki, Tendo and Kuonji..." she paused before adding, "Aiyaa...all four families rolled into one person...!"

"One could almost be moved to pity," Nabiki added sweetly.

"Hey!" their mutual husband protested.

"Then how come this Honsamu guy looks like the freak over there but obviously has only one gender?" Mace persisted.

Kinko's fist backhanded the boy through the wall, leaving a big hole in passing as she stood there looking as mad as the proverbial wet hen, "I warned you about the name-calling, Jackass!"

"Definitely takes after your little sister, Nabs," Ranma noted dryly.

"Tell me about it," Nabiki sighed, "And I can't even send the repair bill to her for this one..."

"Since when have you been bothered about my being a she-male, Kid?" Ganymede asked the groaning Saotome youth.

"Say what?" Kinko rounded on the boy who was so much like her older brother.

"I guess there's no point in hiding the truth from you," Ganymede sighed, "I was born with both sex organs, I'm a Hermaphrodite, and no doubt that's partially the reason why the kid there is having such a problem taking me seriously as a potential in-law."

"Hmph," Shanma pouted.

"You what?" Kinko blinked, "You're kidding!"

"I wish I were," Ganymede sighed, glancing down, "It's been a source of great embarrassment all of my life, but I've tried never to let it keep me down...and besides, it's the way I was born, the way I was meant to be, the way the Kami have shaped me. I don't expect you to understand, but it does sound as if this Honsamu guy had it a lot easier if he was born with only one gender..."

"Hey, don't say that," Kinko protested, "You're not a freak...in fact I just met a guy who has a condition just like you by the name of Ranmaru, and he's a pretty cool dude, if you overlook the fact that he's got a dick that's at least twenty centimeters long and has a pair of boobs that look like watermelons..."

"Ranmaru?" Ranma reacted, "What kind of a name is that...and-WAITASECOND! Just how do you know his measurements, kid?"

"Ah...well..." Kinko said sheepishly, "I just asked his daughters. Geez...you don't think I'd have sex with the guy just 'cause he's hung like a bull and stacked like a brick wall? He's much too old for me...why he's gotta be at least thirty!"

"Suddenly I'm starting to feel my roots," Nabiki noted with a faintly dismayed expression.

"Aiyaa," was all her co-wife could contribute.

"Anyway," Kinko turned back to Ganymede, "The point is that I think it's pretty cool that you've got the equipment to do it both ways, and you're not a freak in my book, Big-Bro, and anybody who says otherwise is gonna hear it from me," she turned and glared accusingly at the pair of legs still protruding from the new exit.

"You mean that?" Ganymede sounded surprised, "You really don't mind that I'm...part female?"

"Hey, if the stuff you got works then more power to you," Kinko turned to Shanma and said, "You ask me, you'd be a fool to let this one go, if you take my meaning, Shanra."

"Shanma!" the purple haired girl reacted, "Xian-MA, not RA, and what business is it of yours who I hang around with?"

"No business of mine, obviously," Kinko waved her hands in a disarming manner, "But since he's practically my Oniichan, then I see it as my family duty to put in a good word for a fellow Kuonji."

"Ah...thank you," Ganymede said with a somewhat bemused expression.

"You will forgive me for seeming a bit impertinent," Kachima spoke up, "But you seem very much on the ball about a lot of things. Personally I find it very refreshing...your counterpart could obviously take lessons from you on certain matters."

"But I think she should learn to restrain herself a bit more," Kokaku sighed as she saw Mace sitting up and rubbing his head with a wince, "And I think a little patience with our little brother would also be a nice recommendation."

"Point well taken," Ganymede stood up, "I do appreciate you feeling the need to stand up for me, Kinko-chan, but I've known Mace nearly all of my life and I don't take it personal if he has issues with my mixed gender, to say nothing of my petition for the hand of his sister..."

"You keep talking as if I wanted to be a part of this," Shanma snorted.

"I would never presume to make your mind up for you, my love," Ganymede assured her, "But I have stated my intentions and I am willing to wait however long it takes until you accept my undying pledge of devotion."

"Before you two get into this episode from a Shouja romance novel," Nabiki interrupted, "Perhaps we should return to the point of how we are to help our dear Ms. Kuonji-san get back to her own world. After all few people know better than me what the disruption can mean to someone's life, being taken from a world that seems normal to you and placed in a world where everything is not quite as you think it should be."

"Really Mother?" Kachima said with a speculative gleam, "I confess that I would find such a prospective experience...intriguing."

"Be careful what you wish for, Kid," her father cautioned, "You could very well get it."

"That might literally be the case," Kinko remarked, "Me and a bunch of other guys were being sucked out of our realities and transported elsewhere without so much as a 'By Your Leave.' Sure it's been a fun experience so far...well...mostly fun anyway, but sooner or later you wanna to go back to your old life and not get bounced around everywhere. Of course if I haven't been grabbed along for the ride in the first place I'd never have gotten to enjoy two trips to the house of the Miroku..."

"The Miroku?" Kokaku asked with curiosity, "Who are they?"

"Ah..." Kinko regarded the innocent-looking girl before her and reluctantly replied, "Never mind...let's just say that they're hospitality was first rate and leave it at that..."

"How intriguing," Kachima purred once again before raising an eyebrow, "By the way...did you know that you are becoming somewhat transparent?"

"That ain't the word I was gonna use, Sis," Mace groaned softly as he felt along the side of his bruised chin.

"Oh my," Kokaku blinked her eyes, "She's right...you are becoming transparent, little Brother, and so are Oneechan and Ganymede-san."

"What?" Kinko glanced down at herself then softly moaned, "Ah, not again...!"

"What the hell?" Shanma looked at her own hand and saw that it was indeed becoming translucent, even as Ganymede made the same discovery and said, "Fascinating..."

"Aiyaa!" Shampoo exclaimed even as Ranma called out, "Nabiki-do something!"

"I'm trying, Ran-kun," Nabiki said with an unusually focused regard in her expression, "But I can't seem to get a handle on whatever it is that is causing this to happen..."

"I can feel the force drawing them out, Mother," Kachima announced, "How odd...they are being taken but not me or Kokaku...I wonder why that is...?"

Even as she spoke Shanma, Ganymede, Mace and Kinko all vanished from the chamber, fading out as though they had literally been erased from existence, to which Ranma called out, "What the hell is going on here!"

"I think I may have a clue, Father," Kachima turned and bowed to Nabiki, "Mother...I must act now before I lose their trace. Sister...you must remain here and serve as my anchor...possibly even my lifeline."

"But...what do you mean to do, Neechan?" Kokaku regarded her twin with confusion.

"I do what befits my training as a Lore Master, of course," Kachima replied as she started to move forward, only to fade out from view before anyone could even think to stop her.

"Kachima-chan!" Nabiki and Ranma both called out simultaneously.

"AIYAA!" Shampoo suddenly had a sword in her hand and was seeing crimson, "Somebody took our children! I won't stand for this! We must get them back, Airen!"

"I'm game," Ranma replied, "But what can we do, Nabiki?"

"I...don't really know," Nabiki chewed on her lip and thought for a moment, "I could feel the power building up around them but I was powerless to prevent it from happening. It was as if whatever was doing this casually brushed me aside like my power was nothing...and that does not bode well. I can sense that they're still alive, but they're no longer on this timeframe...and I can only barely discern the lifeline that Kachima left behind with Kokaku."

"Then what are we going to do, Mother?" Kokaku herself asked with her concern plainly written in her expression.

"There's only one party I know of that can deal with energies of this nature, and may even be willing to help us," Nabiki said with a thoughtful expression, "I could call upon Mother, but her help is often...problematic...but the one we all know who can do the job usually has a hidden price to her actions...but for the most part we all know that she has the power and can be trusted to use it wisely."

"You don't mean?" Shampoo gasped.

"You know she does," Ranma groaned softly then slumped his shoulders, "Well...nothing to be done for it, we might as well hell on out because it's a sure bet she'll already know we're coming."

"Who'll know, father?" Kokaku blinked then answered her own question with another question, "You don't mean...Great-Godmother?"

"I'm afraid I do, Dear," Nabiki replied grimly, "We're going to see your great-  
godmother, Ganglot..."

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Cyber-Dreams of Electric Sheep: shadowmane

Things enter an interesting phase as the players (and pawns) enter the field of contention and compare notes with their paratime rivals. What is the goal of this great game of probabilities and chances, and who could hope to gain from manipulating such beings of power like pieces of a chessboard? Heck if I know, but I think it's worth sticking around to find out in the next exciting chapter, "Hare there be Dragons," or "For Whom the Gods would Destroy they First Throw a Party!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	8. Chapter 8

RanCubed07

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

Chapter Seven.

Ryding the Wave

Continuum # 92684713

Roll Call: (Team One)

Wanda Kenshiro-Adopted Niece to Kenshiro, Heir to the Fist of the Northstar Ryu Ryoma Saotome-Son of Ukyo and Ranma Saotome, Heir to the Anything Goes Ryu Carmine Hitomabori-Daughter of Mosquiton and Inaho, 1/8th Vampire Efreet Mitsuhara -Adopted daughter of Makoto and Ifurita Mitsuhara,  
Demon Goddess Tachi Kuno -Son of Nabiki and Tatewaki Kuno, Master of Nampo Kendo Tarot Kenzan-Daughter of Shampoo and Konatsu, Apprentice Mage/Wicca Minos Taro -Son of Kasumi and Pantyhose Taro, Master of Shotokan Karate

"What is this place?" Ryoma asked as the silver haired giantess led the way into a ramshackle village that looked as if it had been partially burned, torn down and rebuild...several times over, and then left out to weather.

"It is called Freetown by the residents here," Wanda Kenshiro replied in a soft, somber rumble, adding in quiet reflection, "Those who yet survive."

"I think Hell would be a better name for it," Minos spoke in muted horror, seeing starved, diseased, emaciated and dying bodies witting in the partial shade afforded by sheet metal overhangs and a number of other makeshift shelters that looked cropped together from various pieces of wreckage, "Or one of its lower districts."

"Human beings can live like this?" Efreet marveled as she levitated besides Tachi.

"Apparently some do," Tachi replied, "In a manner of speaking."

"Horrible," Tarot murmured softly in obvious sympathy for the dregs of humanity that they witnessed.

"You're telling me?" Carmine agreed in an equally muted tone of voice, "I didn't see misery like this growing up on the streets of Hong Kong, not even in the lower districts. These people look like refugees from warzone."

"A very apt analogy," Wanda replied, "But where could you be from that you did not already know this?"

"Ah...well..." Carmine hesitated with a sheepish expression.

"We don't really know how we came here," Ryoma spoke up for her, "But we're from somewhere else, and my guess is we were transported here by some kind of spell or temporal anomaly. We don't really know, though Tarot here is our resident expert."

"Ah...well," the blue haired girl in question replied, "I did sense some kind of an energy build-up before we were transferred here...wherever here is..."

"Oh, we're still in the Nerima Ward," Efreet replied, "Didn't I tell you guys before? We're in the same coordinates...it just...looks different..."

"But how could that be possible?" Minos asked, "This place is a dump and these people are suffering...ain't like no part of Tokyo that I've ever been to!"

"You're assuming that we're still on our own world," Tachi noted, "But I'm guessing that we were somehow drawn into another dimension, possibly even another time..."

"That's what I'm guessing," Ryoma's eyes narrowed as he took on a grim expression, "And it's not like it's the first time we've ever seen this happen."

"Another dimension?" Carmine repeated, then blinked, "You've done this before?"

"Two or three times," Tarot shrugged, "Not that anyone is keeping score about it."

"I think you're right about this being another dimension," Efreet noted, "But I don't think the time is all that far removed from what we consider the present...at least if I judge the star constellations right..."

"How can you possibly see them?" Tachi turned to regard the girl levitating at his side, "It's still daylight...well...kind of like it anyway..."

"Maybe for your eyes, but mine's way lots more sensitive," Efreet explained, "I can also tell by the Earth's Magnetic currents exactly where we are and what our position is to the sun and other stuff which helps me tell the time and so I never get lost or anything like that."

"What the hell are you rambling on about?" Minos complained, "How can you possibly do stuff like that? What are you, an alien or something?"

"No, I'm just a Demon-God," Efreet replied matter-of-factly.

"You're a lot more than you appear to be, that's for certain," Tarot noted, "And definitely someone to keep an eye on."

"Tell us about this war you refer to," Ryoma asked of their statuesque guide, "Are your people suffering on account of the hostilities?"

Wanda regarded the young man with an oddly detached expression, only to have the focus of her gaze slide over in the direction of Minos before she looked forward again and replied, "The war has been over for decades. It was fought...and lost...before I was even born..."

"Lost?" Carmine gasped, "Japan lost to a foreign power?"

"Then who did it?" Minos demanded, "Who defeated us?"

"No one knows who started the hostilities," Wanda replied, "Very few who survived even remember that far back."

"Then who won?" Efreet asked.

"No one won," Wanda continued looking forward, "All sides were the losers."

"It was a Nuclear exchange, wasn't it?" Tachi asked, "Russia and America probably fired off their arsenals and wound up killing off most of the planet.""

"A Nuclear War?" Carmine exclaimed, "How horrible!"

"I am told that nearly half of all humanity perished within minutes of the war's beginning," Wanda spoke in the same level tone as before, "The survivors who did not die of famine and lingering illness have tried to claw their way up from the brink of mass extinction, but the planet itself was grievously wounded and bears up little life, and the sun itself can barely be seen through the perpetual cloudbanks..."

"Nuclear Winter," Tarot shuddered, "The worst of all scenarios...tons of dust and debris being kicked up into the atmosphere and cutting off most of the Ultra-violet radiation needed for photosynthesis. I'll bet the climate worldwide is substantially colder than normal with most of the water in the seas trapped at both of the poles, leaving only a little for rainfall..."

"And what rain we have is toxic to the land," Wanda concluded for her, "What you describe is our reality, has been for many years. Very slowly the Earth is healing itself, but we have a long way to go before the environment can return to what it must have been like before the great Wasting."

"Hmm..." Efreet scanned their surroundings then said, "According to the radio-  
carbon dating in the air particles, I think your war must have happened about twenty-seven-point-three years ago, and the background radiation readings are pretty high above normal but do seem to be coming down gradually. I give it another forty or fifty years before things get back to Earth Standard normal."

"That's...a pretty precise calculation," Tachi duly noted.

"Ah no," Efreet replied demurely, "I'm taking into account lots of variable factors that could alter my equations. I'm just thinking that it will take that long for the plant-life to absorb enough carbon out of the air to let surface and atmospheric temperatures return to normal. This place will feel like a greenhouse when the trees and grass really get started growing, and the radiation will no doubt help them to grow a lot faster. It could also cause a lot of mutations to crop up, and given time for natural selection to weed out the bad stuff..."

"Your projection at least promises us some hope for a future," Wanda turned to regard the levitating girl, "And for that I thank you. However...it does little to relieve the misery and suffering of the present."

"Oh yeah," Efreet sighed, "I almost forgot..."

"If the land's so dry and hostile," Ryoma asked, "How can anyone survive here?"

"By scavenging on the ruins of the previous civilization," Wanda answered, "The Ancients buried a great wealth of raw materials and canned goods that can still find a use giving food and shelter to those who need it. Unfortunately our world also has parasites and raiders who prey upon the weak and destitute, like that band of mutants that you encountered."

"You eat scraps for food?" Carmine asked in a disquieted manner.

"Whatever it takes to live," Wanda answered, "Though some require the food more than others."

"Gosh," Efreet turned and studied the dried and emaciated faces that lined their route, "This must be what things on my world were like before the war..."

"Oh?" Tachi asked, "You were also in a war?"

"Ah...not exactly," Efreet replied, "I was being built at the time but I didn't get fully activated until long after it was over. My creators died before they could send me out to help our side out, so I don't have any direct knowledge about what happened until Mom and Dad found and activated me. All I know about the war is just ancient legends and stories..."

"Your creators...activated you?" Tachi slowly repeated.

"You mean you're some kind of a robot?" Minos started.

"Robot?" Efreet blinked her eyes, "Now what put that thought into your head?"

"Then what are you?" Tarot noted, "I feel strange energy emanations coming from you...I can't even tell if you are truly alive or not..."

"All right already," Carmine growled, "You want to know about Efreet? She's an Android, are you happy?"

"An android?" Tachi arched an eyebrow.

"Really?" Ryoma asked, "She seems so...human..."

"Oh, I was raised among humans," Efreet shrugged, "I've been around them as long as I can remember. I'm not really all that different from you guys, except for the way I'm constructed...in fact I'm a much more advanced model than my mother, a Third Class, or something like that..."

"Interesting," Wanda murmured, "I sensed great power in you from a far distance, but it turns out there is even more to you than I could have imagined. You seem very much alive for one who was born through means artificial."

"Look, she's human enough where it counts, okay?" Carmine growled defensively, "So unless any of you guys got a thing against Androids..."

"Not me," Ryoma said, "I think it's...pretty neat to meet a real live android who looks and acts so human. Not at all like the Boomers they've got operating in Tokyo, eh Tachi-kun?"

"Huh?" Tachi replied, "Er...yes...very different indeed. Ah...just how human-  
like were you made?"

"You want to know?" Efreet smiled, "I'll be happy to show you."

"Huh?" the smoothly suave boy looked momentarily dumbstruck, but at that moment their party arrived at one ramshackle hut that was slightly bigger than the majority of others.

Inside they were introduced to the village spokesman, the nearest thing that they had to a leader, who greeted them to his sorry, dilapidated structure with all the grace of a man offering all that was in his possession to absolute strangers...which the group collectively sensed were the actual facts in the matter. The roof of his dwelling place was so small that both Wanda and Minos had to duck low in order to fit in through the doorframe. There was barely room enough to sit down as the group formed a rude circle in the house and paid their respects to the village elder and his lady-companion.

Of greater surprise to the group was when a little girl came running up and all but threw herself at the legs of the towering Wanda. She seemed a bit more shy when she caught sight of the new faces in her village, but at Wanda's reassurance that they were friends she seemed to visibly relax and treat them as almost ordinary, if objects of intense curiosity and fascination.

There was a curious bond obviously being formed between this innocent child and giant Wanda. Ilea, as she was called, so much so that Minos was prompted to ask, "Is the kid yours?"

"Eh?" Wanda seemed genuinely surprised by the question, "No...the child has a mother and a sister. I merely was fortunate enough to be in time to spare their lives when the Raiders stormed this village."

"Oh," that response seemed to reassure the large boy, whom his friends had noted was behaving rather oddly around the much taller ice-blonde lady.

The leader had a far more practical question in mind as he petitioned Wanda and made an offer to her new companions if they should stay to defend his people against any return attacks by the raiders. Wanda declined once again saying that there were other villages exactly the same as theirs who were in need of her protection, and that she could not postpone her quest for any great length of time as many more lives hung in the balance.

"How many villages such as this one still survive in these savage times?" Tarot asked around this point.

"A few here and there," Wanda replied, "Both raider camps and regular villages such as these, all living on the edge of total annihilation. In all there could be many thousands more that I have yet to visit with my own eyes, but then again I have only been on my quest a brief while. My Uncle traveled the entire length of Japan and assured me that men of good heart yet survive, and I have never had cause to question his wisdom."

"So few survivors, so many victims," Carmine said as she stood by the door and stared out at the hopeful faces of the many villages crowding without, "It makes me wish that we could do something to help...but I'm not even sure what we're doing here. This whole place is like a nightmare...all these people struggling just to live and totally at the mercy of a ruthless gang of thugs with superhuman abilities..."

"Doesn't sound too different from El Hazard," Efreet agreed as she remained floating over their head to leave more floor space.

"Eh Hazard?" Tachi asked.

"The place where I originally came from," the levitating girl replied, "It's another world that's kinda like this one, only it's lush and green everywhere and the only problems people have are occasional problems with Bugrom and Phantom Tribespeople. Heck, this place might even turn out to be another El Hazard in a few more centuries, once the trees grow back and the air returns to normal."

"Such a world would be a paradise indeed," the village Elder averred, "But we can scarcely afford to dream about such impossible things. It is our lot to suffer and God's will that we be cleansed of our sins and made pure before the new Earth will be allowed us."

"No god would ever be so cruel as to make you suffer the way you have, Sir," Ryoma said with firm resolve, "No god worthy of respect, let alone worship. Your children deserve a better world than this, and no sin of the present or past could condemn them to such a tragic existence."

"Young man," the Elder sighed, "You are a guest and must be respected for this, but what you speak is blasphemy..."

"No sir," Ryoma said, "I speak only the truth, that the sins that created this world were never your sins but the sins of others who abused the trust placed upon them. Leaders who can do nothing but wage war are unworthy of their office, especially when they had the means to bring such death and devastation to the planet. If there is any sin within your hearts it would be the sin of trying to be like them and pass the blame on those who do not deserve it."

"You would question the word of our Elders that this world can only made whole if we purify our souls, young sir?" the Elder's female companion asked with a curious expression in her ancient, wizened visage.

"You can make yourselves as pure as ash and it will not bring life back to the world," Ryoma replied, "To bring life to the world you must take charge of your own destinies. My father taught me that we make our own fate with our actions, and that we bear responsibility if we fail to do the things that can make for a better future."

"Wow," Carmine let out a breath, "I didn't know the guy was that deep..."

"You like him, don't you?" Efreet asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

"I do not," Carmine hissed as she stared at the floor.

"Oh yeah?" her floating companion asked, "Did you know that the skin area around your cheeks just went up by two-point-three degrees Celsius?"

"What would you have us do?" the Elder asked Ryoma, "We are helpless before the elements...no man can make it rain or turn the rain from acrid to sweet water..."

"I can," Efreet replied, turning to see the looks that were turned in her direction, "What?"

"You can control the elements?" Tarot asked her.

"I'm a Demon-God," Efreet replied, "Manipulating energy fields is just one of my abilities. Of course I don't have as much control over my powers as my mother..."

"You can make it rain?" the companion to the Elder asked with rounded eyes and a wizened visage, adding as if in afterthought, "Something other than acid?"

"Well...sure," Efreet responded, "Why...is it important?"

"Ah..." Carmine partially covered her face before saying aloud, "She can do it, guys...but she might bring down a monsoon and flood this village away. Efreet means well, but...well...you've seen how she kinda gets carried away when she uses her power?"

"I see," Tachi murmured, "It also occurs to me that there is another drawback to bringing sudden rainfall. If the rain here is acid then raising the water table will no doubt bring those accumulated acids in the soil to the surface..."

"Leave that to me," Tarot smiled, "I believe I do know a way to cope with the problem.

"You know a way to fix it so these people won't need life rafts?" Minos asked her.

"Of course," Tarot winked at him, "After all, my mentor has always advised me that power is merely a matter of scale, and if you can channel a great enough force then you can cast a spell on almost any level to achieve the basic goal for which you aim. Besides which basic chemistry and biology suggests to me that once you lower the acid content of the soil then natural plant life will take over that will continue the process for you."

"Interesting," Wanda rumbled, "Show me how you can do this."

Minutes later they stood on the edge of the village facing out over a level plain with Efreet and Carmine standing at the forefront of their little group while the whole of the village turned out to watch and observe a miracle that was about to be performed by these strangers.

"You sure you know what to do?" Carmine asked Efreet as she stood beside her.

"I think so," Efreet leaned a bit on her key-staff, "But I'd be lying if I didn't say I was worried."

"If I understand you right," Ryoma noted, "You have the means to control the elements, but you don't know how to measure your own strength?"

"I haven't exactly had a lot of chance to practice it on this scale," Efreet showed a hesitation that was entirely too human, "If I don't do this just right...I could create a hurricane or a tornado. That's the problem with my creators...they gave me all these really neat abilities but they died before they could finish uploading my basic programs. I've had to learn a lot about what I can do through trial and error."

"Yeah," Carmine winced slightly, "Many trials and lots of errors...but I believe in you, Efreet. I know you can do this."

"Let me see if I can understand something about your abilities," Tachi spoke up, "How do you go about creating rain?"

"Huh?" Efreet glanced at the handsome boy at her side, then looked away with an odd coloration of her cheeks, "Ah...well...it's simple, really...there's a lot of moisture in the air. I can see the atoms and molecules of water swirling around and with my key-staff I can create an energy field that can polarize those particles in an ionic field and bring them all together. A little bit of effort and those molecules will congeal into larger and larger clusters then fall like rain-drops...and if I charge the field just right I can repel the stuff that would turn it into acid."

"Not too much I should hope," Tarot cautioned, "You want the rain to have some mineral content, not fall as absolutely distilled water, which could be very bad in another sense. What happens to the particles you leave out of the mixture?"

"Oh simple, really," Efreet replied, "I can make them go somewhere else and fall to the ground in dust clusters. I could clear the air right now...only I'm not sure if I do that without creating some killer winds, like that one time I tried to clean the air over Hokkaido."

"Hokkaido?" Minos said, "You mean the place where they had that big Tsunami the other-oh..."

"Yeah," Efreet said sheepishly as she stared at the ground, "That was me. Sorry about that."

"Then I think the key here is that you scale back the level of effort that you make," Wanda advised, "Learn to measure your strength and not force the elements to bend to your will. Work with the flow of the winds and let them guide you. The Earth knows what to do...trust it to guide you."

"Gee...I never thought of it that way," Efreet turned to Carmine, "Can you help me out a bit? Your dad can control the weather a bit too, y'know..."

"Huh?" Carmine blinked before giving back a nervous little smile, "Well...my powers aren't as strong as his...but I suppose I could try and act like a buffer, if that's what you really want."

"Ahuh," Efreet nodded, "It's like you said to me...I trust you. Okay...I'm gonna give it a shot now, so nobody bother me 'cause I'm gonna have to concentrate."

"Right," Tachi said as he turned and shared a nod with all the others.

The village Elder and his people all collectively held their breaths and stared in hesitant expectation as the dark haired girl slowly closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate for several minutes before raising her vision once again and pointing with her staff towards the heavens. Only the companion to the Elder watched the self-described Demon Goddess with a peculiarly unreadable expression, including the other unusual teenagers in the scope of her gaze and nodding very faintly before at last focusing her ancient eyes upon the towering Wanda.

And as Efreet held her arm skyward with her staff pointed like a spear aimed towards the heavens something began to happen in the area where she pointed...a slight change in coloration, following by a swirling dark mass that formed in the heavens.

"Ease it back a bit, Honey," Carmine murmured, "You're doing fine, but don't overdo it."

"Right," Efreet murmured tensely, narrowing her eyes a little as she concentrated her efforts to use just the right amount of force to exert an influence on the swirling particles that her eyes could track with an accuracy that was beyond superhuman.

"That's it," Tarot encouraged, "Separate the good from the bad and let the rains fall gently...not too much and just enough to make a difference. Let Nature do the rest, you don't need to force it."

"Incredible," Tachi said in obvious amazement, "You can actually see the rain clouds forming."

"Huh?" Efreet's concentration began to waver by a fraction, but at the touch of Carmine's hand on her shoulder she steadied herself and got a grip over her power, filled with new determination not to screw up the job and possibly wind up looking bad in front of the handsome boy beside her...

And then a gasp went up among the crowd as the first of the raindrops began to fall without warning. A murmur of alarm went through their ranks as someone said, "The Bad rain is falling, take cover!"

"No, wait!" someone else shouted, "It doesn't hurt like Bad rain...see? It's harmless water!"

"Water!" the word rippled through their mass like a sound that held all hope and promise. The raindrops began falling down more heavily, so much so that Minos turned to Ryoma with a curious reluctance and said, "You sure you wanna be out in the open for this, Buddy?"

"I might as well get it over with," Ryoma sighed, glancing reluctantly in Carmine's direction.

The rain began to fall more heavily, and as it started to plaster her hair Carmine squeezed Efreet's arm more tightly and said, "Ease back now, Honey...we don't want a repeat of what happened at that wedding in Kyoto."

"What wedding in Kyoto?" Minos asked, then paused before saying, "You mean...where that freak Tornado...never mind!"

"Excellent work," Tarot smiled, eyeing Ryoma's profile with a sly expression, "Now it's my turn to go to work. You've summoned the elements now it's up to me to channel those energies in the correct direction."

The self-described Witch stepped forward and assumed a ready stance as though she were about to perform a kata, but rather than square off in a martial stance she slowly raised her hands towards the heavens and began chanting odd words in Highborn Mandarin flavored with the accent of the country. The sky continued to darken as she spoke the words, and then suddenly exploded with a field of lightning.

"WHOAH!" Carmine flinched as she hastily shielded her sensitive eyes against the flaring light that erupted in the sky, causing the earth to shake with the rumble and the fury. A moment later a massive bolt of lightning struck the ground and caused a rippling effect that swept over everything and everyone, passing through houses and people as harmlessly a gentle zephyr while leaving a cleansing feeling in its wake.

"Wow!" Efreet exclaimed as she watched the blue hair girl skillfully manipulate the forces that had been summoned by the Demon Goddess, weaving her hands in the air as words flowed from the lips of the Witch and took form in the air like glyphs and symbols of power. Tarot wove the air with her hands and crafted her spell with powerful chants and wards to charge it and seal these energies into a pattern. With a sharp hand gesture she closed off the spell and set those forces into place, then with a word caused it to activate as the air itself erupted a blue-white haze shimmering to pink over the land before turning faintly gold, then fading out altogether.

"It is done," Tarot pronounced with even-toned finality, "The seeds of the future have been sown, now it is up to the people who till this land to reap what has been planted."

"Thank you," the Elder timidly approached their group, then bowed low to the Amazon and her companions, "How can we ever begin to thank you...?"

"By living your lives and allowing your children to smile once in a while," replied Ryoma without turning around, only Carmine noticed something odd about the boy's tone, which sounded...at least an octave or two higher than before...and was she imagining things or did the handsome boy appear to be a bit...shorter?

"Incredible," Wanda announced, "Had I not witnessed it with my own eyes...truly you both are gifted. I would very much enjoy studying your Ryu..."

"Hey, it was nothing," Ryoma replied, still not turning to look at either Carmine or the silver haired woman, "When it comes to casting spells, Tarot's the best in Nerima, almost as good as her mentor."

"And some day I'll be even better, right Ryo-chan?" the blue haired Amazon smiled sweetly, giving a smug glance in Carmine's direction that suggested a one-upsmanship, as if knowing something significant that Carmine did not.

All at once Minos turned around and said, "Can we do something for you, Granny?"

"You can indeed," the withered old woman replied as she turned to regard their group, "You children remind me of some young people whom I knew a very long time ago...especially you, young woman."

"I?" Wanda asked in some surprise.

"I was not certain of it at first," the ancient said, "But now I am. When you called yourself Kenshiro it gave me the clue to your real identity, but now I see the confirmation in your eyes...you have the eyes of your father...the eyes of a Saotome."

There was long pause before Wanda turned to fully addressed the old woman, but before she got the chance to speak a single word Ryoma called out, "A Saotome? Are you kidding?"

"I'd never 'kid' over matters so grave, young warrior," the ancient woman replied, "And now I see also by you that the spirit of your father is alive in you both. You did not recognize her as your older sister? Such a pity...it's plain enough to me the strong resemblance between you."

Carmine knew that her vision was impaired by the recent lightning flashes, not to mention partially obscured by the heavy rainfall, but there was something indefinably different about Ryoma's face that troubled her a good deal. She was just trying to put her finger on that mystery when she heard Ryoma's high-  
pitched gasp, "My big sister? Are you crazy?"

"A Saotome?" Minos softly groaned, "It figures..."

"You knew my father?" Wanda's tone was unusually sharp with emotion.

"I knew a young man by the name of Saotome Ranma," the old woman replied, "He was a good friend of Kenshiro and a...kinsman of mine. His passing was a great tragedy for all, for he was a warrior with few peers. He fell in battle against Rao the Tyrant, but not before spending time with a certain lady whose hair was remarkably similar to your own...a woman with a gentle soul by the name of Alia, whom young Saotome rescued from a hideous fate as a slave to the warlord named Jaggy."

"How do you know these things?" Wanda asked, "And why has my uncle never spoken to me of any man named Saotome Ranma?"

"A child is carved from the image of the parent," the old woman replied, "But a master of the Discipline of the Northstar must carve themselves from the raw clay of their own being. No doubt your adopted Uncle would have told you the truth were he here with us today, but I firmly believe that he wanted you to concentrate yourself upon your studies until such time as you had proven your mastery of his art and could be trusted with the burden of carrying on the honored line of the Saotome."

"Wait a minute," Tachi spoke up, "Are you saying that this...formidable young lady here is this world's counterpart to Ryo-san? How on Earth do you know this?"

"Ask yourself that," she turned and addressed herself to Tarot, "Your eyes see further than most...what do you see when you gaze at this frail and tired old body?"

There was a slight hesitation before Tarot gasped, "Great-great-grandmomma? But...how...?"

"When the world was ravaged my father's tree succumbed to the loss of this world's natural environment," the old woman replied, "I lost my ability to tap into energies to sustain me...and so I have been aging for the past three decades, losing my vitality until I begin to resemble the old troll that I but once pretended to be. What you see now is what remains of a once-great Elder from your mother's village, a pitiable shell who nonetheless retains the knowledge and lore of past glories."

"You are...my elder?" Wanda asked with unusual hesitation.

"What are the odds?" Tachi asked with a sardonic expression.

"Great-great-grandmother..." Tarot began to say when she suddenly looked at her hand and said, "How odd...I'm feeling...light headed..."

"Huh?" Carmine gasped, wondering if it were just a trick of the light or did it really appear as if the blue haired girl were becoming more...transparent?

"Oh wow," Efreet stared at her own hand, and then at Carmine, "It's happening again! We're doing a fade-out!"

"How...very odd..." Wanda stared at herself, then at the ancient old woman before her.

"Don't fight it, young Warrior," the old woman replied, "You are being called away by some force that I can sense without determining its nature. Go with the winds of destiny child, and return when you have done whatever the fates have commanded."

"I will heed your wisdom, Elder," Wanda started to say when the world around them shifted into a gray haze that obscured the world around them.

"Not again!" Ryoma gasped when all of a sudden they found themselves in a wooded clearing surrounded by green grass and trees with a clear lake close nearby and a bright blue sky above their heads.

"Well now," Tachi looked around, "This is certainly better than the last stop."

"What the hell?" Carmine stared at their surroundings, "Where is this place?"

"That's funny," Efreet paused a moment before saying, "We don't seem to have gone anywhere...area wise that is...this is the same exact spot in Nerima...only I'm not picking up any cars, trains, planes or buildings."

"That's just great," Minos growled, "I was hoping to find a phone and get a call through to Dad."

"How...very strange this is," Wanda stared at their surroundings with a look of absolute wonder.

"It's called getting back to nature...Sis," Ryoma winced, "This is almost as bad as one of Dad's training missions...not a shopping mall for miles in all directions..."

"Huh?" Carmine turned to regard the Bishonen youth, whom she clearly could see now was very different looking than the boy who had been the recent focus of much of her budding interest, "Who the heck are you?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet...Girlfriend?" Tarot asked sweetly, "Look a little closer."

"Oh wow," Efreet said with rounded eyes, "He looks just like..."

"We know," Minos snorted, "He's sorta like our resident cross-dresser...runs in the family, if you know what I mean."

Carmine did look closer at Ryoma, who sighed and turned blue eyes her way then in a noticeably feminine voice said, "I'm Saotome Ryoma...sorry about this..."

"..." was Carmine's only response, then seconds later she fainted...

Continuum # 3742196 Plane of Jotenheim, Nine Worlds, Gladsheim

Roll Call: (Team Two)

Ranma Saotome-Time Cop, Master of the Saotome Ryu Nabiki Saotome-Ranma's newly wed wife and partner, a Lore Master Ranko Saotome-Ranma's paratime daughter by Akane Tendo Sayo Sanosuke-Ranma's other paratime daughter by Kasumi, Mistress of Kendo Hiroshi Honsamu-Son of Maki Renzeboro and Takai, a woman of the Dark World Lyn Reikou Kuno-Daughter of Freya and Tatewaki Kuno, demi-Goddess in training

"Oooohhh..." Ranma groaned as he stared up at a pair of faces looking down at him with concerned expression, "What...hit me...?"

"About half the combined Asgardian and Storm Giant football teams," Nabiki replied, "Which I estimate to be around an accumulated gross of thirty-nine metric tons solid."

"Feels about right," Ranma thought about sitting up, then thought better of it, "So...what exactly did I do this time to get on their bad sides?"

"You scored a touchdown for the Asgardian team, Dad," Ranko promptly answered, "Of course that was mostly momentum on after they caught you."

"Fortunately we were able to get out of the way in time," Nabiki added, "Which was a good thing since it took a good deal of diplomacy on my part to cool down certain passions that erupted when it turned out that you were not officially part of the team."

"So I won even while I was getting clobbered," Ranma decided that sitting up would probably not cause him to toss his cookies, so he tried it this time with only a little assistance from Ranko, "That figures. Guess Shiva was satisfied since I still seem to be among the living...in a manner of speaking."

"Well, don't jump to any conclusions just yet," Nabiki cautioned, "This is also the land of the Einheriar, the Chosen Slain, and Lady Freya here is a Valkyrie...at least part time..."

"Just one of my many hats, Sugar," Freya responded, "But you don't need to worry, your young buck of a husband is still very much among the living, even if he does have the aspect of Shiva within him."

"So...what all did I miss?" Ranma asked as he silently acknowledged the Goddess of Love and Battles.

"Not much besides the end of the Quarter, Dad," Ranko replied, "Halftime festivities are going on right now," she nodded to what sounded like the din and cry of a major battle, "Gotta give it to these Asgardian Gaijin, they really know how to throw a party..."

"We practically invented it, Sugar," Freya smiled in a highly suggestive manner.

Ranma took stock of their surroundings, finding that they were indoors in what looked like the locker room of an average style gym (albeit the ceiling was a bit higher than usual) and that he was sitting down on some manner of a table. Having little desire to be a doctor's patient at the moment, he forced himself to stand until the world stopped spinning around and then regarded a curious redheaded beauty standing to one side of Freya and said, "What's your story?"

"Ah," the girl in question replied, "I'm Lyn Reiko Kuno..."

"My daughter," Freya added on the sly.

"Waitaminute," Ranma blinked his eyes, "KUNO?"

"My husband," the goddess smiled, "Tatewaki is her father...I believe you know him?"

"TATEWAKI?" both Ranma and Nabiki replied in chorus.

"Hey," Ranko snapped her fingers, "Isn't that sword-wielding guy...father to Tachi and Takane? I think I met a version of him once on one of those timelines I visited..."

"You've met my father?" Lyn Reikou inquired.

"Ah...sorta," Ranko shrugged, "I've been making the rounds the last few days, kinda catching up with my Pop's old haunts..."

"Excuse me, Kid," Ranma apologized, "Hate to interrupt you and all that but...Tatewaki?"

"Why would you marry him?" Nabiki also wanted to know.

"Why not?" Freya grinned wryly, "He's handsome, brave, charming as hell and he recognized me right away when we first met...even called me his 'Pig-tailed Goddess,' which is odd since I only have a couple of braids..."

"You married Tatewaki," Ranma shook his head and sighed, "Never knew the Baka could ever be so lucky..."

"Is there something wrong about that?" Lyn Reikou asked, "Have you got something against my father?"

"It's not that so much," Nabiki shrugged, "I used to hang around with the Kuno-  
chan I knew, but...well...ancient history and all that..."

"It'd better be ancient history, Sugar," Freya eyed the Lore-Master turned Timecop in a friendly way that suggested both a threat and a promise.

"I guess it's just one of those things," Ranko shrugged philosophically.

"What things?" Lyn Reiko wondered archly.

"Ah...well...parallel world stuff and all that," Ranko replied, "You...on some worlds our folks tend to get hooked up with different partners and...well..."

"Excuse me," a gentle voice politely intruded, "But I was wondering...are you Saotome Ranma?"

Ranma and the others all turned to see a beautiful brown-haired girl wearing a Hakata standing to one side with a dark haired man who hovered near to her elbow. The girl carried a sword in her sash and stood at ease like one who knew how to use it while the boy's school uniform seem somehow not to fit him properly, as if he were used to an entirely different sort of outfit.

"Who wants to know?" Ranma asked, instantly wary as he searched the face of the girl, trying to place why she appeared to be so damned familiar...

"Ah...well..." the girl glanced down and seemed momentarily too shy to continue.

"Her name is Sanosuke Sayo," the boy spoke up, "My name is Honsamu Hiroshi..."

"Honsamu?" Nabiki arched an eyebrow, "Somehow that doesn't sound quite right on you, young man."

"Er...well..." Hiroshi hesitated, "My family name used to be Renzeboro, but Dad decided to change it on account of...some personal problems..."

"Honsamu, huh?" Ranma said, "It fits," then he turned to the beautiful girl staring shyly at the floor and said, "Sanosuke? Don't know that name...but...have we met somewhere before?"

Nabiki frowned, "Ranma-kun...for your sake I think you ought to rephrase that."

"Huh?" Ranma glanced at his wife and partner then saw the arched look she gave him, "Ah...yeah...I mean...I know you look familiar for some reason...right?"

"I..." Sayo hesitated once again, then said, "I am told I resemble my late mother..."

"Who was your mother?" Ranko asked gently, trying to encourage the girl to open up a little.

"I...was told that her name was Tendo Kasumi," Sayo hesitated, then gathered her nerves and looked up towards Ranma, "...and that the name of my father...is Saotome Ranma."

At first there was no reaction, but then Ranma's face drained of color and he raised both eyebrows before saying, "Oh..."

"Saotome Ranma?" Ranko blinked her eyes.

"Kasumi?" Nabiki also paled.

"Yes," Sayo looked up, "Did you know her?"

"She...was my older sister," Nabiki swallowed.

"Oh," Sayo blinked her eyes in a disturbingly familiar manner, then added, "Then...you would be my...Aunt?"

"Nabiki," Nabiki supplied, then added in a haunted voice, "You...you do look a little like her...but...your eyes..." she turned to stare at her husband, "...They're your eyes, Ranma..."

"O..." Ranma remarked, then added almost as if in afterthought, "...Boy..."

"Let me get this straight," Ranko said, "You're Pop's kid by my Aunt Kasumi? Wow...that's radical all right, huh Pop?"

"Oh yeah," Ranma faintly murmured, "Radical is the word all right..."

"Father?" Sayo asked hesitantly, "Are you my father?"

"Ah...well..." Ranma hesitated, then finally exhaled, "Yeah...guess I am at that, Kid..."

"But...where have you been all of these years?" Sayo asked, "I...was told you were dead..."

"And who told you that...Sis?" Ranko asked of the brown haired girl.

"Vice Principle Daisuke," Sayo blinked, "Did...you just call me sister?"

"Half-sister," Ranko replied with a sigh, "It's a long story..."

"Well now," Freya spoke up, "Seems we got a family reunion here. I take it you didn't know your Kasumi was carrying your baby?"

"Ah...well..." Ranma winced, "Not really..."

"It's as much a surprise to me as anyone else," Nabiki added wryly, "So...niece...where have you been all of these years?"

"Oh," Sayo seemed to recall her manners, "I've been in training with my Uncle, Hiko Seijiro, for as long as I can recall. I never truly knew my mother...or at least that I can remember, and I know that I've never met with you before, Father..."

"Wait a second," Ranma made a curt hand motion, "You were raised by Hiko? Why that nervy old bastard...is he still around on your neck of the woods? Don't tell me he's been raising you on the Hiten Mitsurabi Ryu?"

"Hijiru Mitsuba Ryu, Father," Sayo replied, touching her sword as she added, "And I recently completed my training,"

"He taught you his succession technique?" Ranma arched an eyebrow, "You must be good if you could survive that."

"Who's this Hiko guy, Pop?" Ranko wondered.

"He's the only guy with a sword who might actually give me a workout," Ranma replied, "The rest are just bums, but Hiko's the real McCoy when it comes to fighting. He's trained Saotomes in the past to be great Samurai, and the fact that he's still around is proof enough that he ain't lost his mettle."

"I don't understand, Father," Sayo asked with an almost audible eyeblink.

"Aw, nevermind," Ranma smiled, "The important thing is we finally get to meet, and from what I see you turned out all right...Sayo was it? Sorry I wasn't around to see you grow up, you look like a real angel...uh...and...ah..."

Nabiki sensed what her husband was attempting to ask and voiced the question for him, "How did my sister meet her end?"

"Ah...well..." Sayo hesitated, looking down.

"We were told that she and Saotome Ranma met their ends at the hands of a man who has connections to the Yakuza," Hiroshi answered for her, "A man whose name is Taro."

For a moment Ranma was absolutely silent, but then Ranko felt her arm-hairs stand on end and turned to see the look in her father's face harden. For a moment it came back, that selfsame grim, fatalistic vision that she had witnessed during the fight against the dragon, and his eyes went from their normal blue to something utterly un-human as the air around him charged itself with a battle aura that felt as though the slender man had just turned into a towering colossus of barely contained rage and a thirst for ultimate destruction.

"Taro...hurt Kasumi?" Ranma's eyes blazed with an inner light and it seemed as if he were about to manifest the Shiva side of his personality at any second. But then-even as Nabiki herself was beginning to tense up-her husband regained mastery over his temper and slowly ratcheted his anger down until it was merely simmering below the surface, and then vanished altogether.

"Whoah," Freya exclaimed, sounding like even she was impressed at the brief display, "That's quite a temper y'all got on your man there, Nabs-honey."

"Tell me about it," Nabiki said, adding under her breath, "Not that I can actually blame him..."

"Sorry about that," Ranma spoke with surprising evenness as he turned normal eyes upon the wide-eyed Sayo, "That was reflex. Hope it didn't shake you up too much, Kid..."

"Oh...Father!" Sayo suddenly cried out and threw her arms around to hug him with a look of utter delight in her expression, "It is you! I'm so sorry I ever doubted!"

"Huh?" Ranma blinked, then awkwardly put his arms around the slender girl, holding her gentle frame within his arms while glancing at Ranko and Nabiki once before yielding to temptation and allowing himself to nuzzle the top of her head as he murmured, "It's okay, Kid...I'm here now...let it out if you've been holding it in..."

"Wow," Ranko blinked her eyes, "She actually took that as proof that Pop is her father?"

"She must have seen her real father do something similar when she was a girl," Freya deduced, "Buried childhood memories are like that...they just spring out at you when you least expect them."

"I don't believe this," Nabiki smiled ruefully, "A beautiful young girl hugs my Ranma and I'm actually not jealous? Will wonders never cease?"

"Ah..." Hiroshi murmured to himself, feeling more than slightly out of place here.

Ranma finally released Sayo after ruffling her hair and saying softly, "Feel better now?"

"Oh...yes, Father...very much," Sayo sighed contentedly as she composed herself and resumed her quiet dignity, "I don't remember the last time I ever felt so much at peace..."

"You've been holdin' it in too long," Ranma cupped her chin and smiled for her, adding softly, "Whatever you saw as a Kid must've affected you a lot. Don't need to be afraid of anything now...I'm here, I won't let anyone or anybody hurt ya."

"I know that, Father," Sayo replied, touching the sword resting in her sash, "But I can handle myself. Master Hiko was an excellent teacher."

"I don't doubt it," Ranma nodded, "Met the guy when I was a lot younger'n you...almost got sold off to him by my Pop," he turned his focus towards Hiroshi, "And who's your friend?"

"Hiroshi-san?" Sayo asked, "We met just today when he came to my aid during a battle. He's a good man, though I sense in him a kind of darkness."

"Me too," Ranma's blue eyes bore into Hiroshi and seemed to turn the younger man inside out, leaving him feeling as if the older man had critically examined every cell in his body and pulled out his pockets to check for loose change, then rudely stuffed him back together. It was just a fleeting sensation, but it left Hiroshi shaking.

"Guess you're right about that," Ranma half-smiled, "Kid checks out all right, but there's a dark side to him that even he doesn't seem to know about. Guess you could do worse for a traveling companion."

"Er..." for some reason Hiroshi felt the term "walking on my grave" to be an understatement for the way he saw Sayo's father's eyes gleam, as though projecting the mental words, "HURT HER AND YOU WON'T BE AROUND TO REGRET IT, BUB!" It suddenly occurred to Hiroshi that upsetting the elder Saotome would be a less than stellar career move.

It was Nabiki's turn to eye Hiroshi up and down, although she did it far more gently and less intrusively, smiling at the end before saying, "You must have some interesting parents, young man, but I sense that you have honorable intentions."

"He'd better," Ranko did her best to unconsciously imitate her father, giving Hiroshi a look that as much as said, "Do her dirt and I'll HURT you in places you never even knew existed, Bub!"

"Interesting family," Lyn Reikou murmured at the level of a stage-whisper to her mother.

"Y'all don't know the half of it, Darlin'," her mother replied in the same low tone but with muted humor arching her voice.

"If they're anything like the Saotome clan I know," Lyn Reikou murmured back, "You're probably right...and I guess that it's a GOOD thing."

"Ah...yeah," Ranma seemed to come back to himself at that particular moment, "That does remind me...guess we have our counterparts here too as well. Am I a great fighter on this frame?"

"Well..." Freya drawled, "You're a hotshot in the martial arts department, but the Ranma I know is a practicing Mage, and the Nabiki I'm familiar with is married to a fella by the name of Konatsu..."

"SAY WHAT?" both Ranma and Nabiki chorused together.

"Sounds like fun," Ranko grinned, "Wonder what the rest of the kids here are like..." she caught the confused look in Sayo's eyes and added, "I'll explain all about it later, Sis."

"Well, this is fun and all," Lyn Reikou noted, "But if it's all the same to you, Mother, I'd like to go back out there and enjoy the rest of the half time festivities. I understand that they're going to restage the Battle of York with cousin Magni guarding the bridge against the Saxon horde, and I even hear that Hilda's going to be playing one of the Saxons."

"Very well," Freya conceded, "Go and have fun with your friends...and why don't you take young Ranko here with you so she can see history recreated with her own eyes? I'm sure it'll be just fine with her parents, right?"

"Well..." Nabiki began to say.

"Ah Mom...PLEASSSE?" Ranko turned a big-eyed pleading stare on Nabiki, who found the resemblance to Ranko's father all the more endearing for the sudden wave of nostalgia in brought out in her.

"Well...all right," Nabiki found her resolve crumbling, "But only if it's all right with your father."

"Hey, why do I get to play the bad guy?" Ranma sulked.

"Oh, nothing too much to worry about, Guys," Freya reassured them, "Just partying and carousing, lot of fighting, general roughhousing and mayhem, perfectly normal stuff for a Viking and hardly anyone ever gets permanently hurt...and just in case they do we have Balder and his kid on stand-by for instant medical assistance."

"Really?" Ranma's eyes widened and then he turned a pleading look on Nabiki, "PLEEAASSE?"

Nabiki rolled her eyes as if beseeching the heavens, fully aware of the irony in her gesture, "All right, but keep an eye on each other, you too, and NO DRINKING! I know the age limit's a bit lower here than on Earth, but Ranko's still too young to indulge in toxic substances, do you hear me, young lady?"

"No problem, Mom," Ranko raised a hand and adopted a bland expression while keeping her other hand with fingers crossed behind her back, "I promise!"

"Then go out there and kick some major but," Nabiki snapped at both of them, "That goes double for you, Mister."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Ranma mock-saluted, then grinned at Ranko as he added, "Race you there, Squirt."

"In your dreams, Old Timer," Ranko cheerfully taunted back.

And then they both took off, moving with a speed that was blinding and kicking up such a breeze in their passing that even Freya's hair went briefly horizontal.

"Hey!" Lyn Reikou protested, "Wait for me!" and then she, too, vanished.

"Oh my," Sayo blinked her eyes then looked questioningly at Nabiki, "Auntie?"

"Like they said, Niece," the recently wed Saotome shrugged her slender shoulders, "It's a long story."

"It always is, Sugar," Freya smiled, offering Nabiki her arm, "Shall we watch the fun from a reasonably safe distance? I guarantee you ain't never seen halftime activity like they do it here in these parts."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Nabiki agreed as she accepted the arm link, and together walked side-by-side with the Goddess out towards the bleachers.

"Oro," Sayo remarked as she exchanged puzzled looks with Hiroshi, then the both of them followed after their elders, wondering as they did so what sort of strange family ties they had just become involved with, and would either of them would survive knowing the answer...?

Continued.

Comments/Criticism/Ragnarok on a Roll: shadowmane

The rest of the gang converges on a new destination, and slowly the pieces come together on a massive Jigsaw puzzle that lurks in the twisted mind of the author. Be here next time for, "The Gang's All Queer," or "Mid-day in the Garden of Goods and Weasels." Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	9. Chapter 9

RanCubed08

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

Chapter Eight.

Sore Horsemen

Continuum # 59343921

Roll Call:

Ayane Tofu -Daughter of Kasumi and a Saiyajin Warrior, Ryeka Masaki -Daughter of Ayeka and Ryoko, created by Recombination Tenko Masaki -Daughter of Ryoko and Tenchi Masaki, heir to the Juraian Empire Veil Morisato -Daughter of Belldandy and Keiichi Morisato, demi-Goddess in training Lylac Tendo -Daughter of Shampoo and Nabiki Tendo, heir to the Anything Goes Ryu Ekko Daitokuji -Daughter of Aiko and Beiko, created by Recombination

"Let me get this straight," Ayane said, "This is another dimension and you guys are the parallel counterparts of the people of my world, the friends I know and go to school with?"

"Essentially correct," Ekko replied, "You are not in the world to which you were born and conditions here are somewhat different than you remember."

"Hah," Ryeka huffed, "You got that much right at least. Twinkletoes here must have fallen on her head when she landed 'cause that's the third straight time you've explained this, and even I've got it figured out by now."

"Little sister," Tenko chided, "Have some patience with our guest. It seems that much is in common with her world and ours, and much is very different, yet traveling between parallel worlds is obviously a new experience for her, one for which she was not adequately prepared."

"Yeah, right," Lylac murmured, "Like you can be prepared for it, and I've been on that trip through the rabbit hole twice already."

"Oh my," Veil turned to the purple haired girl beside her, "You mean that you've also met up with Bunny-san and her skateboard?"

"Ah..." Lylac eyed the young goddess as if debating whether it was worth the trouble or not to further explore the meaning of that question.

"Listen up, Children," Washu spoke up, "I've made some new calculations regarding the phenomenon that brought Tofu-san to our shores and seems to have done a similar job on several other parallel timeframes. As yet I can't quite isolate the cause of this problem, but I've managed to rule out a number of likely suspects. Of more immediate interest to our guest, however, I've managed to locate her actual home timeframe using her quantum molecular signature as a reference, and with a little manipulation here and there I've just obtained some interesting images that will help clear up the particular mystery surrounding her Saiyajin origins."

A square sheet of light appeared in the air above their heads then expanded outward in three dimensions until it a fully lifelike image took shape with incredible clarity. A man and a woman took center stage in this three-  
dimensional relief, the man being huge and husky looking yet with a ruggedly handsome set to his otherwise hardened features. His hair was long and black, just like Ayane's, but the outfit he was wearing resembled nothing so much as a battered form of high-tech leather armor. Like the man himself the armor looked as though it had seen more than its share of action, and yet the expression on the face of the man was not the face of a warrior but rather the face of a man gazing in adoration upon the radiant beauty who stood without fear before him.

That woman was instantly recognizable as a young girl named Tendo Kasumi. She was staring up at the man's face and her eyes were filled a longing that was desolate and more forlorn than words could conjure. There were tears forming around the edges of her beautiful brown eyes and it was plain to anyone with feelings and emotions that she was silently sharing with the man as the wind whipped past their bodies and the stars bore silent witness to what clearly was a sorrowful parting of their ways.

"You're sure you have to leave?" Kasumi asked in a voice that was barely a whisper.

"I have to go," the huge man said with surprising gentleness in his voice, "If I stay it will only bring trouble to you and your planet. My master, Frieza, and King Vegita of my home world, both expect me to report in soon and if I don't put in an appearance then they will grow suspicious and come out this way to investigate. Believe me when I say that this planet and your people would not survive such an encounter, not even with all the heroes who would defend it at the cost of their very lives."

"I see," Kasumi lowered her eyes, "Then you have to leave...but...but I wish I could come with you."

"Your place is here on this beautiful world that is a home to so many others who are like you," the man cupped Kasumi's chin and gently bade her to look up into his eyes so that he could again bathe in their innocent glory, "You've taught me to see so much more than any other member of my race has ever seen...so much more than I could have hoped to imagine. I thank the Stars for the happy accident that caused my ship to crash land so near to your doorstep...it gave me the chance to get to truly know that there was such a person in this universe with a heart so pure and full of the joy of living. It was worth it to nearly die in your arms to know the warmth that you poured into my heart, my darling precious Angel."

"Oh...Korato-sama," Kasumi moved in to embrace the larger man and was almost swallowed into the encirclement of his brawny arms as the big man held her to his chest and smelled her hair with obvious savor.

"Hey!" Ayane suddenly spoke up, "What's Mom doing hugging a guy like that instead of my father?"

"Quick on the uptake, ain't she?" Ryeka sniffed.

"Very," Ekko nodded.

"Kasumi-san," the large man murmured, "Don't cry...you should not waste your tears over one such as me, I hardly deserve such kindness. The time we have been together has changed me in ways you can hardly imagine, and now I owe all that I am to you because you took pity on my worthless carcass. What an irony that I came here to destroy your world and enslave your people, only to be taught that there was another way to live. If you only knew how much I learned by merely watching you go about devoting yourself to the duties of your family while I lay near to death and completely at your mercy..." he chuckled softly, "But then again, I was a different man when I arrived here. Take care of yourself and never lose that beautiful smile or that loving heart, my precious Angel."

"I wish you didn't have to leave," Kasumi murmured sorrowfully, "I could stay like this...holding you forever."

"Never fear," the large man assured her, "I will adapt and survive in my new life. I have already forged bogus information in my mission logs and set my recorders so that they will give totally false readings to the homeworld. It will be reported that this world has nothing of value to offer us and is not worth a future mission. You should be safe for at least a time before Frieza turns his evil eyes again towards this sector."

"So...it really is necessary for you to leave," Kasumi lowered her eyes and stared sorrowfully at the man's abdomen, "But I wish...I wish that you could come back..."

"For your sake it would be better if I did not," the man replied, "I...Korato of the planet Vegita, will live my life as a Ronin and try to give back some of what I have taken from the universe. If I can help even one soul to see the light, as you have done for me...then my life will have been worth something."

"Your life is worth something to me now," Kasumi gently insisted, "I hope you won't be wasting it by leaving."

"No life is a waste," the man insisted, "You taught me that. I may well be the first member of the Saiyajin race to truly understand what it means to care about another life beside my own...and that's exactly why I must leave you...you carry a new such life within you, and it is a life I will not see snuffed out before it has a chance to blossom."

"But surely our child will need a father..." Kasumi attempted to argue, a thing for which she obviously had little practice.

"My child will have strong teachers to guide him," the man replied with a quirk of a smile, "Or her. I entrust him to the care of those who have proven worthy of such trust. Besides...there is another man who would do well to make you a good companion. You should consider him well...he is a good man, strong in ways that are surprising, exactly the same as you, and I know he would make you a very good husband. Sure he deserves your love better than I, having devoted his life to healing others."

"But...he seems like such a silly man at times..." Kasumi's tone seemed momentarily lighter, "Though he does make me laugh, and I know by what other tell me that he really is a good doctor..."

"What?" Ayane blinked, "MOM!"

"She can't hear you," Tenko urged, "These events are long past, and your mother intends no disloyalty to the man whom she married, the man you have called your father."

"Called my father?" Ayane blinked.

"Haven't you figure it out yet?" Ryeka snapped, pointing at the image, "THAT's your old man, you doofus!"

"Him?" Ayane blinked, "No way...!"

"Nonetheless," the man in the image was saying, "You do care about him, don't you?"

"Hai," was Kasumi's softly murmured reply.

"I would be jealous," the man smiled gently, "But instead I'm grateful. Thank you for giving me your heart, my gentle Angel, and for teaching me the true meaning of strength and courage. Ranma?" he asked, raising his voice as he stared off into the dark.

A figure stepped out from the shadows and said, "Yeah, Korato-san?"

"I am leaving her in your care," the big man said firmly, "As warrior to warrior, I trust you with her safe keeping."

"Heh, you don't need to worry about me," the cocky young Ranma gave the larger man a thumbs-up sign, "Nobody'll touch Kasumi while I'm around, and that goes double for her kid. I'll see right by them, you can count on it."

"I know that," the big man said as he gently pushed Kasumi away then took a moment to drink her in with his eyes, "That's why I can leave now...I know that she'll be in the best hands that could be found on this planet. Be well, my Angel...the thought of you will sustain me in my long and lonely voyage."

"Should I...tell our child about you and your world?" Kasumi asked hesitantly.

"No," Korato replied, "Let her believe that she is a part of this world. I would never contaminate my son's mind with thoughts of the ugliness that my world has become. Perhaps when he is older and needs to know about his heritage you can tell him, but until then...let him believe that Tofu is his father...I owe the good doctor that. Oh...and be sure he doesn't stare out at the moon at nights, at least not while he has a tail...that would be very bad."

"Oh yeah...right," Ranma smiled a bit weakly.

"Take care...both of you," the man named Korato replied as he stepped into a ball-shaped capsule, much like the one in which Ayane had been discovered, "And be well...should we ever meet again."

"Korato-sama..." Kasumi breathed, "I love you..."

"I know," he replied, and then his capsule sealed shut on the man, and the capsule began to hum, then lifted from the ground and began to shoot skyward, like a rocket.

Kasumi stood where she was staring up at the sky as Ranma stood respectfully beside her, neither one saying a word as they stared towards the sky until the image finally faded.

"I obtained those images through remote Vector-viewing, tapping into the right Temporal coordinates..." Washu started to explain.

"Tapping into the Yggdrasil net again, Aunt Washu?" Veil chided.

"Ah...well..." Washu hesitated.

"Waitaminute!" Ayane spoke up, "That guy can't be my father! He has a tail, and I don't!"

"Wrong again, girlfriend," Washu corrected, "There's a vestigial nub that shows the point where a tail was surgically removed when you were no doubt very little. Tell me something...have you ever stared at the Moon on your world?"

"Well...no..." Ayane hesitated, "My father used to tell me that there was this big, scary monster who comes out at night and attacks like kids by moonlight...but what's that got to do with..."

"Saiyajin tails have special properties," Washu persisted, "They act as a locus to summon special types of energies, like an antenna specially keyed to a certain wavelength. When their bodies absorb that special energy it triggers a metagenic transformation that causes them to grow large and revert to a more primitive state of savagery and wanton destruction..."

"In other words they become big, scary monsters by the light of the full moon," Ekko noted, "The kind that could indeed pose a serious threat to little children."

"In other words what your step-father told you was the honest truth," Lylac added, "Just slanted a little to spare hurting your feelings."

"No way!" Ayane reacted, "You're lying...!"

"Why would we do that?" Veil asked with a puzzled expression.

"I don't know-but you are!" Ayane made a fist, "Stop telling me lies about my father and mother! I don't know why you're doing this, but..."

"Oh, that's perfect logic," Ryeka scoffed.

"We're not lying to you," Tenko tried to reassure her, "We mean you no harm, but..."

"Shut up!" Ayane balled her other fist, then stood with her legs spread wide and formed an intense look of concentration, "I don'' want to hear this any more!"

"Uh oh," Washu said as the young girl began to be surrounded by a coruscating battle aura, "She's powering up...this doesn't look too good..."

"I think she's having trouble adjusting to this new information," Ekko theorized.

"No kidding!" Lylac exclaimed, "We've got to get her out of here fast before she cuts loose and blows up this whole laboratory!"

"A very good suggestion," Veil noted, raising a hand as it to test the air itself as her hand started glowing, "Oh my...this is worse than when my Cousin got wet wearing her prom dress..."

"That bad?" Tenko raised an eyebrow, "Then we'd better get her out of here quick, Grandmother."

"I'm opening a portal now," Washu replied, "But I don't think she'll be too obliging going through it."

"Is that your problem?" Ryeka smiled, "Leave it to me, guys!"

A shimmering blue light passed over the blue haired girl and suddenly she was clad in her Juraian armor, even as she threw herself at Ayane and tacked the girl, directing them both through the portal that Washu had opened before the Saiyajin girl could fully charge herself to her max."

"We have to follow them to see that nothing untowards happens," Ekko began to say when all at once the portal faded out of existence, leaving the redheaded genius to remark, "What in the name of Steven Hawking...?"

"Someone shut down the portal before I could fully stabilize it," Washu began to rapidly play about her control console, a note of actual concern trickling into her voice as she exclaimed, "WHAT? The portal doesn't lead to the coordinates I fed in...somebody hijacked the basic programs and re-diverted the signal to a different set of coordinates...what?"

"Someone could do that even without your being aware of it, Grandmother?" Tenko asked.

"Ah...permission to start being really, really worried here?" Lylac said as she raised her hand.

"Oh my..." Veil exclaimed, "That means that Ryeka has been taken...and she's with that other girl...oh dear..."

"I agree with you, Lylac-chan," Ekko replied, "This is definitely a time to start being worried..."

Continuum # 86741253

Roll Call:

Kachima Tendo -Daughter of Nabiki and Ranma, Lore Master Apprentice Shanma Saotome -Daughter of Shampoo and Ranma, Heir to the Anything Goes Ryu Mace Saotome -Son of Shampoo and Ranma, shares curse with his older sister Ganymede Kuonji -Son/Daughter of Makoto and Ukyo, Senshi in Training Kinko Kuonji -Daughter of Akane and Ukyo, "cursed" form is an Angel

"Where are we?" Shanma asked as she glanced around at their surroundings, her head swerving from side-to-side so fast that she almost seemed to be facing in two directions.

"Looks like a wilderness of some kind," Ganymede answered, "Much like the one we just came from this very morning."

"Oh great," Mace felt along the side of his jaw where he had been clobbered by the forth member of their party, whom he was doing his level best not to stare at, "This is just like one of Dad's training missions, only I'll bet it all your fault we got dragged along here, Bird-brain!"

"Watch it, Whiskers," Kinko snapped back, "I ain't anymore in control of this than you guys. I'm just a survivor of the last run-amuck adventure."

"No one is accusing you of anything...Sister," Ganymede said with the slightest of hesitation, "But you must admit it is rather odd to be taken right out from the Saotome house and deposited elsewhere with no rhyme or reason."

"Sounds like a mystery to me," a fifth voice remarked, just before Kachima stepped sideways out from the seemingly empty air, "And as some of you already know about me, that is the one temptation I could never quite resist."

"Neechan!" Shanma whirled around, "Thank the Kami somebody's here with brains who can help figure this out!"

"I'll do my level best, of course, Sis," her half-sister replied, "But you already knew that."

"Hey, for once even I'm glad to have you along, Oneesan," Mace admitted, "If there ever was a time when we needed a Know-it-all like you, this is it."

"I'll take that as a compliment, little brother," Kachima paused to study their surroundings, "Hmm...tech-level here appears to be at least similar to that of our own world...I can feel the vibrations consistent with what we know, so I would assume this is merely an unincorporated wilderness zone, and from the smell of cordite in the air I would judge that we are on a military testing range of some sort, no doubt employed by the Home Defense force."

Shanma sniffed the air and said, "Hey, you're right! It does smell like explosives nearby, and kinda recent too. In fact, it's coming from that direction...what the hell?"

"Eh?" Ganymede was instantly on his guard, "Soldiers."

"Huh?" Kinko glanced around, "What do you mean?"

"I hear them too," Mace growled, "Sounds like Special Forces, and moving this way fast..."

"What's that other sound?" Shanma whirled on her heels just in time to see a pair of figures vaulting from high over a ridge and heading in their direction, a pair of motorcycles with dark-clad riders heading in their immediate direction.

"Oneechan-move!" Kachima called out, seeing that her purple haired sister was directly in the path of the hurtling motorcycles.

"GAH!" Shanma cried as she narrowly avoided the collision, even as the rest of their group scattered to make way for the passage of the motorcycles, which hit the dirt and kept on moving at full tilt.

"Are you all right?" Ganymede asked as he circled around to Shanma's position.

"Yes," Shanma snapped, "No thanks to those-MACE, what are you doing?"

Even as she spoke her younger brother was hurtling towards one of the two bikers and nailed that one solidly with a dragon-stamp kick, knocking the rider clean from their cycle. With cat-like reflexes the dark blue haired boy tumbled and landed on both feet, even as the other motorcyclist turned around and came to an abrupt 180-degree turn-stop.

"Nobody does that to my big sister and gets away with it!" Mace snarled as if he were already in his alternate "cursed" form.

The motorcyclist whom he had upset recovered almost immediately and removed the helmet she wore, allowing long black hair to tumble over her shoulders as she righted herself and turned to glare in Mace's direction.

"Huh?" the boy faltered slightly, "She's a girl? I hit a woman?"

"Move-dummy!" Kinko suddenly cried out as she saw the woman extend her arm in a rather ominous manner, then whipped out her hand and caught three needle-like projectiles before they could take the boy by surprise while his guard was down. Even as she did this, the other motorcyclist removed his helmet and stared at them with a similar regard of unreadable challenge.

"They...look just like each other," Kachima noted, "They could almost be identical brother and sister..."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Ganymede straightened, "Mace, Neechan...be careful! Those two are more than they appear to be."

"I think we kind of already got the idea on that," Shanma noted as she stood at the ready.

Before the motorcyclist pair could act, however, the sounds of movement in the bushes attracted their notice, and with only a slight tensing of muscles the two propelled themselves with matching leaps that took them high into the tree-tops so rapidly that they almost appeared to vanish.

"What the heck?" Mace blinked his eyes in confusion.

"Hmm..." Kinko sniffed the needles in her hand then said, "Nerve toxin...non-  
lethal, but more likely to paralyze you if they'd connected.

"I believe that we may have a somewhat more immediate problem," Kachima said as she glanced toward the side.

"Eh...?" Ganymede cocked his head then frowned, "We've got company."

"They have us surrounded," Shanma shifted her gaze and crouched down at the ready.

Dark-clad figures approached, heavily armed and camouflaged with masks and goggles on their face, giving them a somewhat unearthly and inhuman appearance as they pointed lethal-looking machine guns in their general direction.

The leader of this group made his presence known by raising a hand to his companions, then calling out through the muffled speaker built into his mask, "Get your hands up where we can see them! We're the HDF, Nobody move and you won't be hurt! You are trespassing on a restricted combat zone..."

"Not deliberately," Ganymede raised his hands to signify peaceful intentions, murmuring in a lower voice, "Better do what he says, gang...there's no sense in us mixing it up with the army."

"Says you," Mace growled, "We can take them."

"Mace," Shanma chided, "I don't like it anymore than you, but..."

"They've got guns, remember?" Kinko remarked nervously, "And they got us outnumbered about thirty-to-one."

"Twenty-five to five," Kinko corrected, "But I do agree that the odds seem rather slanted."

The heavily armed figures moved out into the clearing and several advanced forward to brandish their weapons while others moved to accost the unarmed teenagers, who made a point to keep their hands out where they could be seen as non-threatening. Soldiers gripped those hands by their wrists and quickly slapped plastic-strips to bind them together, then all five teenagers were made to kneel down while the soldiers kept them covered.

"Delta Team to Phoenix Roost," the leader called out as he touched the side of his helmet, "Lost contact with the subjects, have encountered five non-com civilians in the targeted zone, Over?"

"What's this all about?" Mace wanted to know when one of the soldiers brought the muzzle of his weapon up to his chin in warning.

"Play it cool, people," Kachima murmured, "This is not the time to act."

"Yeah?" Shanma murmured softly, fretting at having her hands immobile, "Then when is it, Sis?"

Ganymede shifted his gaze and said softly, "I think we're about to find out. Be ready."

"Huh?" Kinko responded when all of a sudden a ruby beam shot out and struck the soldier nearest to her, causing that worthy's flack-jacket to explode and knock the soldier backwards.

All at once a number of similar beams lashed out and took down three more men before the soldiers had time to get their bearings and take cover. Some soldiers fired back at where the beams appeared to be issued from, only to be struck by a dark form that came upon them without warning.

Even as this happened, Kachima slipped free of her bonds and severed those binding Mace's wrists with a slash of her hand before doing the same thing for Kinko. Shanma tried to move with her hands still bound when Ganymede saw the dark blur slashing close to their position and reacted immediately by throwing himself atop the purple-haired girl, only to receive a slash in the side of his chest for his troubles.

Kachima whirled around as the dark presence loomed before her, but rather than flee her hands made a rapid motion and the dark figure was suddenly propelled backwards, hurled with great force into a distant tree with bone-jarring impact. She then calmly turned and made a double-hand gesture that caused the plastic strips binding the wrists of Ganymede and her sister to be severed.

Shanma wasted no time in trying to extricate herself from the larger boy-girl atop her, only to find her hand encountered something slick to the touch as Ganymede winced from the contact. In surprised tones she said, "Gany-san?"

"It's just...a scratch," Ganymede forced himself to his knees with gritted teeth, "But those two are going to pay dealing for this," and with that he reached into his shirt and pulled out his amulet, crying out, "PLANET POWER TRANSFORMATION!"

Shanma's eyes went wide as she saw Ganymede straighten out and go momentarily naked, which caused Mace to glance away hastily and cry out, "I'll go blind!" which earned him a hasty "thwack" from Kinko. A moment later Ganymede was clad in a kind of armor and looked twice as tall and impressive, almost Renaissance-  
like with a cape dangling from exaggerated shoulder paltrons. The words "Lordly and Majestic" seemed best to describe him then in that moment as he surveyed the battlefield, even as the last of the soldiers succumbed to one of the two dark-  
clad assailants.

"Careful!" Kachima called out, "Those two mean serious business."

"What a coincidence," Ganymede replied as he drew a rapier from its sheath, "Me too!"

The dark haired motorcyclist advanced on the transformed youth with seemingly empty hands, but with a flick of the wrist the cyclist was suddenly holding a bladed weapon and promptly attacked, his slash being effortlessly parried by the young Senshi as Ganymede moved in and counter-attacked, forcing his opponent to vault away and assume a defensive crouch, then the two warriors came at one another in earnest.

The other motorcyclist-the lady of the pair-had recovered by this point and was confronting the rest of the team with Kinko and Mace moving to flank Kachima and Shanma, who faced the dark-haired woman down with both sides adopting wary defensive postures.

"No good," Kachima murmured as the tension dragged on for several long moments, "I can't get a reading on these two...their thought patterns and energy signatures are clearly not like anything we have previously encountered."

"There's something funny about her scent," Shampoo sniffed, "I don't think she has normal sweat glands."

"Well...what the hell is she?" Mace asked, "And why does her stance look so familiar?"

"Hey, she knows Saotome Ryu!" Kinko suddenly spoke up, "Wait a minute...is she one of our Parallels on this timeframe?"

"Difficult to say," Kachima replied, "But I don't think that she is entirely human either."

All at once their opponent's eyes began to glow brightly, then she opened her mouth and a ruby beam shot forth from her lips aimed squarely at Kachima, who deflected the blast with a mere hand gesture.

"Cute," Kachima murmured, "Do you also eat with that mouth, Sister?"

"What the hell was that?" Shanma asked in the second or so before the dark hair girl rushed her.

Ganymede, meanwhile, was in a bit of a stalemate as he continued squaring off with his own opponent, having tested the other man's defenses with a dozen furious slashes and found that his dark clad opponent had nearly invincible combat reflexes.

"Very good," Ganymede saluted his foe with his sword before adopting an "en-  
guard" stance, "Your Ryu is nearly flawless, but I notice that your tread is somewhat heavy and your balance is off by just a fraction. This battle is already ceded to me, but I wanted you to know that I consider you a worthy opponent."

The dark haired man did not reply but instead attacked, only to be caught unawares as Ganymede cried out, "JOVIAN MOON-WAVE ATTACK!" which caused a wave of force to lash out from the Senshi and catch his foe nearly point-blank, knocking the motorcyclist sprawling.

"This is nuts!" Shanma declared as she traded furious blows with her own opponent, only to get tagged when she made the mistake of lowering her guard by a fraction, the other girl's punch laying her out as if she had been struck by a sledgehammer.

"Oneechan!" Mace cried out as he tried to come to her aid, only to wind up with a foot in his stomach for his troubles.

"YOU BITCH-!" was all Kinko managed to say before she was taken down by a back-fist that caught her napping. The dark haired woman whirled around as if to search for other opponents, only to discover that Kachima was standing directly behind her with an outstretched hand aimed at a certain spot along the back of the female biker's neck.

"Lights out," Kachima remarked as the dark haired woman stiffened, then fell forward like the proverbial stringless puppet. She turned to survey Ganymede then said, "Not bad...you have improved greatly."

"Thanks," Ganymede replied as he finished inspecting his opponent, then turned and walked over to the groaning Shanma, "I could say the same about you."

"So," Kachima looked from one fallen opponent to the other, "It would appear that I was right, as usual...these two are not entirely human."

"Cyborgs would be my best guess," Ganymede replied as he turned Shanma over and inspected the bruise on her chin, "And I think we can both guess who comprised the biological half of their equation."

"Indeed," Kachima noted as Mace began to straighten up once again and Kinko herself recovered from her prone position, "The mind of a Saotome in the body of a machine...how perfectly wicked to my way of thinking, yet I don't believe this act was performed with any intention to do an unkindness."

"What's that?" Gasped gasped, "You mean these two are robots?"

"Cyborgs," Kinko corrected, "Part man, part machine...haven't you ever read science fiction?"

"I would say Science Fact would be more accurate," Ganymede smiled down at a slowly recovering Shanma then held up his hand before her eyes and asked, "How many fingers do you count?"

"I'll break 'em off if you don't get those out of my face," Shanma growled as she beat his hand aside then ignored his offer of assistance and sat slowly up on her own power, "What hit me...?"

"Off hand," Kachima inclined her head, "I would say a Poly-durium Molybdenum-  
coated alloy surrounded by a synthetically grown flesh-like casing and powered by flex-metal musculature with a tensile strength of around fifty-two metric tons force. On the whole, sister, I would say it was a fortuitous thing that your lovely head is still attached to your shoulders."

"Thank heavens for small favors," Ganymede quirked a smile, "Plus the fact that you Saotomes tend to be so remarkably hard-headed."

"Hmph," Shanma frowned, "And who are you supposed to be dressed up like that, Prince Charming?"

"I am whatever you want me to be," Ganymede smiled gently, only to wince somewhat as his form began to shimmer and his costume returned to normal.

"Better have that wound treated," Kachima cautioned, "You wouldn't want to get infected."

"Thanks," Ganymede grunted softly, "My Senshi armor stanched the bleeding, but I think...those claws were coated by something. That lady definitely leaves scratches almost as bad as Shanma..."

Shanma was about to say something nasty in response to that when another part of her, far more domestic in nature, registered that the Senshi had been injured while protecting her, which was why her tone was considerably softer as she said aloud, "You're hurt..."

"I'll be all right," Ganymede tried to reassure her, but his smile was weaker than his usual cocky sardonic humor, "I heal pretty fast, almost as much so as you do..."

"Treat his injuries, Sister," Kachima gently urged, then when Shanma opened her mouth to protest the Apprenticed Lore Master waved a finger in the air and said, "Don't argue, just do it."

Kinko was kneeling over the fallen dark haired woman and saying, "Wow...she is a Cyborg...and a pretty sophisticated one at that. Bet the guy copies her pattern right down to the micro-cellular level. I've gotta do a diagnostic and see what makes her tick."

She pulled out a small box-like object from her side and pressed a button to activate it as Mace stared in wonder at the device then asked, "What the heck is that?"

"Something I worked up with my Aunt Skuld for just such occasions," Kinko replied, "After all, I am a whiz with gadgets and devices."

"A lady of many talents," Kachima smiled in silent appraisal.

"I like to diversify," Kinko replied, passing the device over the cyborg's motionless body before pronouncing, "Wow...she's about 88% artificial...pretty advanced stuff too, and lots of combat systems built right into her. Small-  
scale fusion generator...looks like it converts biological matter into its raw elemental state then burns off the energy it needs and stores the rest for repair work. She's got a lot of flex-metal instead of muscle and her bones are just about what you said they'd be, Kachima-san. Brain and cardiovascular system are definitely biological, but her lungs are synthetic and part of her spinal column is fused with a neural-interface unit that seems to function like an auxiliary brain. Heh...somebody even went to the trouble of fashioning fully functional sex organs with enhanced pleasure-tactile sensitivity to the erogenous zones. This lady was made for love, but it doesn't look like she's capable of reproduction."

"Why would somebody make her like that?" Shanma asked as she busied herself stripping off Ganymede's blood-soaked school shirt.

"Obviously they had a purpose," Ganymede winced, "My guess would be espionage...she's a combat unit designed for infiltration, and probably made to pass even the closest outward inspection. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if they intended her to pose as a call girl in order to get close to a target..."

"Yeesh!" Mace winced, "I don't even wanna know! Hey...some of these soldier guys are starting to wake up...they're not dead?"

"Hardly," Kachima noted, "This pair attacked them using less than fully lethal force, and the body armor these soldiers are wearing appears to have absorbed most of the damage. The blood you see is fake and the wounds are entirely external."

"Huh?" Shanma asked, "You mean this was all for show?"

"More like we stumbled into the middle of an elaborate military scenario designed to test the effectiveness of these Cyborgs in combat," Kachima theorized.

"Good guess, lady," the leader groaned as he got to his feet and leveled his machine gun, "Don't move...this is a classified operation. I don't know who you people are or how you know so much about Project MKA-1129..."

"Actually we didn't know much of anything of importance," Kachima corrected, "And you can put that toy away, I happen to know that it is on a non-lethal setting."

"Maybe so," the man replied, "But a Stunner can still give you a nasty hangover when you wake up, so like I said before..."

"Hey!" Mace called out as he stared at his hand, which once again had become transparent, "It's happening again!"

"What...already?" Kinko blinked then stared down at the cyborg before her, "It's these two! We must have been sent here to pick them up!"

"Obviously they are coming with us," Kachima remarked as she examined her now-  
translucent hand, "A fascinating effect, and it seems this time I have also been selected."

"What's going on here?" Shanma asked as the trees and brush faded out from their surroundings, to be replaced a moment later by a different kind of rocky outcrop that flanked them on one side while the other side opened out onto some spacious beachfront.

"Nice," Ganymede commented while allowing himself to be bandaged, "I always wanted to take you with me to some interesting places, Sugar."

Shanma found herself a little too bewildered by the transition to remember to be irritated by that comment.

"Fascinating," Kachima said once again as she glanced over to one side, "It would appear that not only the two cyborgs but their motorcycles had joined us on this leg of our little odyssey. I wonder if there might be a significance to that?"

"Who knows?" Kinko shrugged as she went back to work examining the female cyborg, "Somebody sure did a number on this lady. According to these readings her brain is functioning on a purely stationary mode...she's a virtual Zombie, does what she's told and lets her in-built combat computer do most of the real thinking."

"You mean she has no awareness of who and what she is?" Ganymede asked with some concern.

"Apparently not," Kinko studied her device-which had a slide-screen that opened to the side for further diagnostic display, "Though there is some residual higher brain activity...kind of like a part of herself is fully aware of what she is doing but she can't seem to regain control over her own actions. I think I can do something to help her, though...this doesn't look too bad. A little tinkering around and I think I can restore her personality and most of her higher brain functions."

"Think you can do it for the both of them, Kinko-san?" Kachima asked.

"Don't see why not," Kinko replied, "I've got the tools and the knowledge, so I might as well get to work on it, then we can ask these two just who the heck they are...or who they were before somebody decided to play Frankenstein with their anatomy."

"Geez," Mace winced, though he studied the younger girl with a grudging admiration.

"I wonder," Ganymede said aloud, "Would waking them up and letting them know about what has been done to them be doing them any favors? I can't imagine how I would feel upon discovering that most of my body had replaced with a machine."

"Yeah," Shanma softly agreed, "That's be a real downer, wouldn't it?"

"I'm a little curious," Kachima mused as she stroked her chin, "This hopping between worlds, Kinko-san...was it solely with the purpose of attaining the services of near parallels of ourselves, our friends and our loved ones?"

"Pretty much," Kinko replied as she explored the back of the cyborg's head, then discovered a hidden stud and pushed it so that a portion of her scalp lifted up to reveal a hidden panel, "Though the impression I got was that we were being sucked along to particular worlds where we were supposed to do stuff that would fix the problems on those particular timelines. Guess somebody upstairs thought these two had been done a real injustice and wanted us to correct it."

"Which beggars the next obvious question," Kachima resumed, "Why are we here? For what purpose have we been brought to this world and deposited here, away from normal civilization?"

"You ask me, we'll find out soon enough," Shanma said as she tore off another strip from the roll of bandages that she had produced from seeming nowhere, "We don't have to look for trouble, it usually finds us."

"True enough, Beautiful," Ganymede replied, then winced as Shanma deliberately made the new bandage a bit too tight around the rib cage.

Mace started to glance towards his sister and the older Kuonji when he caught sight of Ganymede's chest and hastily looked away, flushing crimson, "GEEZ! Don't you even wear a Bra, you Hentai?"

"Actually, Kid," Ganymede replied, "I normally use a wrap for my boobs, but I'm like any girl who likes to occasionally relieve myself of the pressure by letting them all hang out, right Shan-chan?"

"No comment," Shanma growled, unable to help noticing how large Ganymede's chest had become and silently comparing it to her own dimensions. She dismissed the thought with genuine irritation.

"What's the matter?" Kinko smiled as she took note of the way Mace was holding his nose, "Don't tell me you've never seen a pair of naked breasts before, you little Hentai."

"Shut up!" Mace growled from beneath his hand.

"Methinks thou doth protest too much, little Brother," Kachima smiled sweetly, "Is that the reason why you've been so hostile towards Ganymede-san? Looking upon his form confuses you, doesn't it?"

"Heh, I should have known," Ganymede softly chuckled, "It was when I flashed my naked girl-form at you that you started getting on my case. Guess that really threw you into for a loop, huh, considering the last time you saw me you hadn't even gone through puberty yet."

"Get stuffed!" Mace snapped without turning around, "As if I'd ever look at a freak like you that way..."

"Little Brother?" Shanma sounded more confused than ever.

"What a baby," Kinko taunted, "Won't catch me getting nosebleeds just because I saw somebody naked."

"Shut up!" Mace whirled on her, only to go round eyed as Kinko chose that moment to pull up her shirt and flash her own naked breasts in his direction, "GAK!"

"Kinko-san," Kachima chided with a tiny smile, "That wasn't very nice."

"You sound like your twin sister," Kinko replied as she pulled her shirt back down, "The Kachima I know would have found that a laugh riot...Cousin."

"True," Kachima allowed her smile to widen, "But I felt compelled to put in a word in Kokaku's absence."

"I know your brother is a bit of a hothead," Ganymede softly murmured to Shanma, "But right at this moment I pity him if he keeps it up around that girl. Kinko-  
san is definitely more than a handful."

"I didn't think they were all that big," Shanma sniffed, the paused when she saw the look the Senshi gave her and said, "Oh...you mean...? No way! They hate each other, can't you hear them fight?"

"Sometimes fighting is a way of disguising your feelings," Ganymede leaned back and admired the breeze against his feminine-looking body, "Depends on how serious you are about it and what things you say that actually hurt someone else's feelings. I know because the people I hang around with are also Senshi, and they often tease one another, but behind it all you can feel the affection, like what Aunt Usagi and Aunt Rei share with each other."

Shanma blinked her eyes as she thought this over, but then she took a good, hard look at the feminine-looking guy before her and found herself coloring as she looked down, feeling more confused than ever.

"You don't have to say anything," Ganymede spoke without turning back towards her, "I know you so well that I can sense what you're actually feeling."

Shanma realized that she had not used enough of the bandages just yet, and she wondered how she could have missed Ganymede's mouth since it was such a big target!

"Like what?" she said aloud, "What am I feeling?"

"Confused...scared, a little bit angry," Ganymede replied, "A part of you wants to hit and yell at me for trying to protect you and getting injured, the other part doesn't know how to be grateful and show that you mean it. And, of course, the rest of you is thinking I'm full of it and I shouldn't be dumping all this in your lap just now when you're busy trying to get your life together." He paused before saying, "Well...am I right?"

Shanma took a moment before responding, "Remarkable...you're only guy I know who can sound like he's preening when he's being humble. At least Pop doesn't try to mix the two...he either preens himself or mopes around like a kicked puppy until he's forgiven."

"Never could quite master your father's ability to switch off like that," Ganymede admitted, "Though I will thank him for once teaching me the 'Crouch of the Wounded Tiger.' If you like, I'll perform it."

"Why bother?" Shanma felt her lip quiver as she fought off the urge to smile, "You think it will improve your chances?"

"It couldn't hurt," Ganymede shrugged, "Come on...is that what's really bothering you about me? The fact that I'm a lot more together now and confident in who I am than that last time when we were together?"

"Is that what you call it?" Shanma asked, "I call it being insufferably smug with this 'You Will Be Mine' crap! And why did you think you had to change yourself for me anyway? Didn't you think I'd accept you the way you were?"

"Maybe you could have accepted me," Ganymede still did not meet his girlfriend's eyes, "But I knew deep down that you wanted a guy to love...either that or a girlfriend who really is a girl in all the ways that matter. You say the fact that I'm both guy and girl doesn't bother you...but I could tell it did. It was the way in which you looked at me...that's when I knew that I had to settle the question for myself once and for all, and without resorting to some cheap trick like going to Jusenkyo."

"Cheap trick?" Shanma arched an eyebrow, "Are you saying my parents used cheap tricks to gain their powers?"

"You know what I mean," Ganymede chided.

"So..." Shanma paused before continuing, trying to make the question seem more casual than it was, "How did you manage that switching off between Genders thing?"

"It took a bit of ingenuity and some creative thinking, I'll admit," Ganymede replied, "But I can't really take all the credit...it happened when my cousins and I were on a quest together and we...got in touch with our past selves...those people we were in previous lifetimes. Mine...was a bit unexpected. Turns out I was someone born with the same mixed set of genitalia, and everyone thought I was a woman on account of the way I looked. I served Prince Endymion back during the Silver Millennium and was defeated by the dark tide that swept over the world. For a time my mind was briefly ruled by that darkness, but even there I knew a man whom I have loved in that previous life...a man who made me feel like a woman. Unfortunately we both died before we could consummate our love and the darkness itself was eventually banished and driven away from the planet, freeing me and the others to be reborn into new lives, to find happiness and love anew. Since I'd had some affinity for the Jovian Kingdom back then I was reborn as Lady Jupiter's son and daughter...a bit of irony there, eh? But that's fate for you..."

"Right," Shanma softly sighed, "Tell me about it."

"My father is a very wise person," Ganymede continued, "He told me long ago that I should never be ashamed of being different, that I was blessed with two sets of functioning organs for a reason, and that when the time was right I would know what that reason was. I've never known my father to be wrong about anything so significant...and then one day I turned around and suddenly discover what it is, the thing that I most want...and it all seems to make a kind of sense to me. I was born with the ability to please you, and in whatever way that I can, I will endeavor to do so."

Shanma looked down and grumbled, "Don't talk that way to me...you don't really know what I want...or...or what it would really take to please me..."

"Oh?" now Ganymede smiled and looked fondly on Shanma, who found her eyes rising to meet his stare almost against her own volition, "Who's being less than honest now? You're a prize beyond measure, Shan-chan, but you're not that good a liar. It wasn't me learning how to alter myself in to one or the other gender that you were waiting for all of these years, it was finding out that there is a person in this world who has the strength to court you, who can be trusted not to hurt you and who will never willingly break your heart. You want to know if I am really the one for you, and I've given you the choice when I could just as easily have forced myself upon you. I know that you want your freedom, but you're wondering if I'm really serious about it for giving you the choice."

"You really think you know me, huh?" Shanma said, "Didn't know you were such a mind reader."

"Hey, hang around with the crowd I've been with for a while and you can learn a lot about human nature," Ganymede shrugged, then grew sober again, "I'll never regret who and what I am, even if other people don't understand me. The only one whose opinion really matters is either you or me. I give you the power that I take from everyone else to judge me as I am and decide what manner of person I have the capacity of being. You mean the world to me, Shan-chan, but if I really am a burden to you and you think my feelings are nothing more than a silly crush or a phase that I'm going through, then do with me as you will. Until then I will be your loyal Senshi and lay my heart at your feet, to either accept or to stomp upon. That choice is yours and I won't retract it."

"Really?" Shanma asked after a pause of several seconds, "Not even if some girl like Wings over there throws herself on you?"

"Oh come on," Ganymede rolled his eyes, "She's practically my half-sister, and you know I don't do incest."

"Do I?" Shanma asked, "What about with Europa?"

"That was totally out of context and has nothing to do with either one of us," Ganymede insisted, "If you had waited for an explanation instead of leaping to conclusions..."

"Fine," Shanma's nostrils flared, "So I'm flighty now? I jump to unreasonable conclusions?"

"Yes," Ganymede replied, "Did it ever occur to you that Europa had another side of the story worth telling? She's one of your best friends, she deserves better than that."

The purple haired girl had only just started to mull that one over when something went "WHOOOSSSH!" directly over their heads, something huge and powerful looking that was flying at treetop level and nearly bowled them all over when the shockwave followed shortly thereafter.

"What the heck was that?" Kinko gasped when she was able to pick herself back up off of her feet.

"Huh?" Mace rubbed his eardrums, "What did you say?"

"Oh my," Kachima closed her eyes and felt along her temples, then looked up into the sky to see the black object continuing on its low-course, kicking up a spray of water until it banked back and sought to gain altitude, climbing back into the heavens with incredible speed and power.

"What the hell is that thing?" Shanma shouted over the diminishing din of twin engines spewing fire.

"Off-hand," Ganymede said more calmly, "I'd say it was some type of aircraft, but I can't place the make or model."

"An aircraft that big?" Kinko shaded her brow as she stared at the rising figure, "It's gotta be thirty meters long from nose to tail, but it moves like a dogfighter!"

"The really odd thing is that I did not even feel its approach," Kachima remarked, "I was just as surprised at its appearance as anyone."

"Now that is weird!" Mace agreed as his ears finally ceased ringing, then he gestured wildly, "HEY! There's another one coming right at it!"

The five youths all stared in unison as a second craft of similar size and make to the first came hurtling towards it with the two of them on a clear intercept course. Before they could actually collide, however, both objects began to change shape, to morph as their rearranged their outward configuration, and then both came to a near halt as they confronted one another, hovering in the air like two Samurai meeting on the field of honor.

"I don't believe it!" Kinko exclaimed, "You guys see what I'm seeing?"

"See it, Sis," Ganymede replied, "But I'm not saying I believe it!"

"That makes three of us," Shanma said, "Little Brother?"

"No way!" Mace avowed, "This is totally cool and awesome!"

"Awesome," Kachima noted grimly, "I suppose that is one way of putting it, but what I want to know is...why does it always seem to come down to which giant robot has the largest...proboscis?"

It was as her four companions turned to look at her with matching expressions of incomprehension that the dimension shift happened once again, sparing the young Lore Master from having to make a more immediate explanation for her rather odd comment...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Gundam Mobile Suits of the Veritech Persuasion: shadowmane

Think the field is getting crowded now? Don't worry, it will all become clear to you in time (cross my fingers and hope fervently that I'm right!). Be with us for the next exciting installment of this limited Summer-run Miniseries of Multi-Reality Madness in, "The Great Chase," or "Funny, you don't look Druidish." Be there!

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	10. Chapter 10

RanCubed09

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

Chapter Nine.

A Hand for the Big Lady

Continuum # 3742196

Roll Call:

Ranma Saotome -Timecop, heir to the Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu, avatar of Shiva Nabiki Saotome -Timecop, Ranma's Partner &amp; Wife, Lore Master Ranko Saotome -Apprenticed Timecop, their adopted daughter &amp; heir Sayo Sanosuke -Daughter of Ranma and Kasumi, heir to the Hiten Mitsurugi Kempo Hiroshi Honsamu -Son of Maki and Takai, a woman of the Dark Worlds, Shinto Priest Lyn Reikou Kuno -Daughter of Freya and Tatewaki Kuno, Valkyrie in Training

"So...let me get this straight," Nabiki said with an exaggerated drawl to her voice, "You married Kuno because he recognized you as a goddess?"

"Well," the Goddess of Love and Battles smiled prettily, "To tell the truth, I was rather taken with his charms from the first moment we crossed swords together. He was so handsome and good with that wooden blade of his, and the way he talked...why it just downright gave me the shivers!"

"Excuse me," Nabiki made a deferring gesture, "We are talking about Kuno Tatewaki, tall boy, likes to spout poetry and has a head like a stone, only not as perceptive?"

"That's the one all right," Freya affirmed with a pleasant lilt to her voice.

Nabiki shook her head then recovered her bearings, "Pardon me...I know this may sound a little rude, but I'm having trouble making the cognitive leap here. I mean...I knew Kuno-chan from when we both were little, but the Kuno I knew was arrogant, conceited, full of himself, thought he was Heaven's gift to the ladies..."

"You've nailed my husband right to a T-square," Freya affirmed, "Only he's not as bad now as what you probably might remember. I helped the boy mature a little...shown him some pretty mind-expanding avenues and all that, plus got him the treatment he needed to cure himself of his drug addiction. Even clean and sober he still makes for quite a catch, and you don't hear me complaining, now do you?"

"Ah...right," Nabiki decided to venture the question from a different tact, "How...er...exactly did you two meet?"

"Well now, Sugar," the Goddess leaned back and smiled, "It was back when I was doing my turn monitoring the Goddess Help Lines...y'all do know about those, do you?"

"Ah...generally, yes," Nabiki admitted, not adding that she knew about one particularly lucky mortal who made a wrong phone call and wound up married to a Goddess named Belldandy.

"Well," Freya resumed, "I was doing some social work when a call came in from this lovelorn lady who worked at a restaurant named the Nekohanten...I'm sure y'all know to whom I happen to be referring..."

"Shampoo?" Nabiki answered.

"Got it in one," Freya nodded, "I granted her a wish, but it necessitated me hanging around Nerima for a spell to see that it all worked out right, and what a fun load of happy times that was...every other day a quest, a challenge or an adventure, it was just like in the old days!"

Nabiki directed the focus of her gaze away from the goddess to the football field where a display of "The Good-Old Days" was being reenacted...and with some of the original cast members! There was battle and mayhem with blood flowing and heavily armored figures slugging it out with whatever weapons they had in hand, much to the entertainment of the cheering throngs that lined the bleachers and considered this sort of thing high entertainment.

And in the middle of it all was her husband, Ranma, fighting side-by-side with Ranko, who was herself having a Grande Old Time of it plying her martial arts techniques to laying out cold some of the upstanding citizens of Jotenheim and Asgard. Nabiki had noted that Ranma was toning down his own part in order to stay close and keep an eye on their adopted daughter, but she doubted very much if he could be pulled away from such "fun" if she slapped a tractor field on the baka.

At least it was only Half-time entertaining, which meant it would theoretically be ending any time now, after which the games would commence once again as the players got down to the less brutal sport of professional Football. The people here certainly seemed to take it as seriously as a war, which-come to think of it-made them seem all that much more like a similar crowd comprised of Midgard-bound mortals.

She turned her attention back towards Freya, not wanting to offend their hostess as she reminisced about events of nearly twenty years back as though they had happened just last week...which in a relative sense was probably how Freya herself viewed the matter.

"Well, anyway," the Goddess drawled fondly, "Hanging around with a young group of such talented martial artists made me a bit conscious of my need to brush up on my own battle skills...after all, it wouldn't do for someone like me to let herself be outclassed by the locals. Well, Tatewaki came upon me while I was working out in a park and immediately challenged me to a duel, saying that the winner could date the loser, which was just the cutest thing for him to say, the little dickens..."

"Uh...right," Nabiki softly murmured.

"Well, seems the boy was a bit better than I'd hoped he'd be on the first few passes, so we got down to it and started rumbling in earnest. Of course when I told him I agreed to his terms it caused him to go momentarily slack, like he hadn't expected me to say that, so he left me an opening and naturally I took advantage, then told him since I'd won that he could have the privilege of dating me," the Goddess giggled like a school-girl, "You should have seen the look on his face! I thought maybe I'd bopped him a little too hard, and y'all know I wouldn't want to be dating damaged goods..."

"You actually agreed to date him after he LOST?" Nabiki said, a little round-  
eyed.

"Sure enough, Sugar," Freya grinned, "I'm a Goddess of my word, and besides, y'all know that only Loki can get away with lying since it's in his sphere of influence. Too bad we had to cancel the first date on account of that Groping Dwarf that bears the name of Happosai..." for a moment Freya lost her pleasant demeanor and looked fairly disgusted, "Reminds me of a couple of giants I used to go out with...all hands and thumbs with no sense at all of what it takes to please a lady."

"O-kay," Nabiki charitably refrained from voicing her own views on that subject, "So I take it you went out on another date with Tachi?"

"Yep, sure enough," Freya affirmed, "And the date was going pretty good, only an old friend of mine popped up and made a bit of trouble, so when the police arrived, followed by those obnoxious guys from the MIB-well, the less said about them the better..."

"I didn't hear a word," Nabiki said with a straight face and kept her fingers firmly crossed behind her back.

"Well...eventually we did get shacked up, like I'd originally planned, and then I gave Tatewaki a taste of my 'Blue Thunder,'" Freya grinned in obvious savor, "Took the poor boy a while to come back down to Midgard, but after that we were pretty much an item, and soon he went and popped the question..."

"But..." Nabiki hesitated again, "What about his...eccentricities?" she considered that word more diplomatic than outright calling Tatewaki Kuno a certifiable nut case.

"What d'y'all mean, Sugar?" Freya asked in genuine curiosity.

"Ah...forgive me for saying this," Nabiki replied, "But the Kuno I knew in my youth was boastful, arrogant, conceited, prideful..."

"Honey," Freya chuckled, "You just described about half the people currently attending this arena! Fact is that's why I found him so darned charming and attractive from the beginning...he reminded me of all the great heroes-both Mortals and Gods-who I've gone out with in my time, with the sole exception of my ex-husband...and the less said about that wandering loon the better."

"Hmmm," Nabiki thought it over, "I guess when you put it that way..."

"Tatty's been a good husband and a fine father to our Lyn Reikou," Freya grinned with obvious savor, "About the only thing we couldn't completely agree with was what to name her...I wanted Lyn, he wanted Reikou, and since they both mean 'Lightning...'"

"Ah yes," Nabiki noted, "She is a bit...fast, isn't she?"

"Fleet of foot and twice as sexy," Freya smiled, "I'm damned proud of that girl and the way she's turning out. Of course she's only an Apprentice First Level, hasn't even qualified yet for her full Goddess rating, but there's time, and give her a century or so she'll likely blossom out into a real star of the Asgardian circuit. Meanwhile I make sure to raise her in both the Mortal and Immortal worlds, just so's she keeps one foot firmly planted in both spheres. I also share parenting duties with Tatty, who dotes on our little girl so much that you'd think she was a little Samurai Princess."

"I guess...Kuno-chan must have matured, like you said," Nabiki noted, "She is a fine girl, and I can see why you're so proud of her."

"Tatewaki and I have made sure she grows up knowing that she's well loved," the Goddess abruptly sobered, "You know about their family history, don't you? How their mother went crazy and killed herself after years of abusing Tatty and his sister?"

"That happened here too, huh?" Nabiki somberly noted.

"Uh-huh," Freya nodded, "Lotta things are common between our worlds...about the only real point of divergence comes around the time when Shampoo made that wish and formed our contract. Other than that things were pretty much headed in the same general direction as the tragedy that you remember, only thanks in no small part to my efforts that tragedy was averted, and now everybody lives happy as peas in their pods with most stuff having worked out for the better."

"Oh?" Nabiki asked with mild suspicion, "Exactly how did you manage to help Shampoo out anyway?"

"Well, actually it was relatively simple," Freya replied, "I did a little research, some surveillance work and a little old-fashioned observation and guesswork to determine that the Saotome boy was up to his neck in problems, at least half of which was caused by his father. There was no way he could pick just one of his fianc es without causing the others to suffer, and since Shampoo's wish specifically wanted everyone to be happy with the arrangement of her being married to Ranma, the obvious answer I came up with was to have him wed all three of his primary fiancees."

"Say what?" Nabiki stared round-eyed, "You mean Ranma-kun...?"

"Married Shampoo, Ukyo and your sister, Akane," Freya gave the Lore Master an apologetic nod, "Sorry, Sugar...you weren't a part of that action. Instead you wound up getting tight with a boy by the name of Kenzan Konatsu."

"Konatsu," Nabiki replied with almost no expression on her lovely face, "Riiight..."

"Don't scoff, Sugar," Freya chided, "You were feeling a bit down and lonely at the time that you paid that visit to the 'Sexy Girl Teashop,' and it didn't take you too long to figure out that the 'cute girl Ninja' there was being cruelly exploited by her step-sisters and step-mother. You got him out of there and set him up in the dojo...at least for a time you made him into your subordinate and used him to gather information, but when you found out he was really a boy dressed up to look like a girl as a part of his training..."

"I hope you won't take offence with me saying this," Nabiki said, "But I am having a little trouble swallowing this concept."

"Hey, you yourself said stranger things have happened, Honey," Freya winked, "Take the 'Fiancee Brigade,' which I helped to set up, and when your sister shagged up with Kodachi..."

"SAY WHAT?" Nabiki's outburst drew the attention of a party of Orcs who were enjoying half time and who glared resentfully at the human female until Freya gave them a warning nod, at which point they took interest in the game and never so much as thought twice about it.

"Excuse me," Sayo spoke up suddenly, "But...I don't understand...this is all so confusing. How can father be married to three other women when he was supposed to be married to my mother...?"

"Ah...yes...I've been meaning to get around to that," Nabiki said with a sheepish expression, then she looked at the Goddess once again and said, "Kasumi and KODACHI?"

"Now Sugar," Freya chided, "Be kind to your niece, she still just getting used to the idea about there being a multitude of parallel worlds. Y'see, Hon, there's not just one world full of possibilities, there's a whole vast infinity full of nearly-infinite potential. In one universe a boy named Saotome Ranma married a lovely lady by the name of Kasumi, who happens to be a very good friend of mine in the world that I'm a part of. However...in that world Saotome Ranma married three lovely gals who loved him back and had a passel of children, the oldest being Helmet, who is slated to be the new Queen of the Amazons just like her great-great grandmother, Cologne, always wanted for a member of my bloodline...see what I'm saying?"

"No," Sayo admitted with innocent incomprehension.

Freya heaved a sigh and turned to Nabiki, "Looks like this one's up to you, Darlin'."

"Right," Nabiki turned to study the face of the lovely girl Samurai and sought for the best way of putting into words the metaphysical situation that allowed for alternate Universes to co-exist, and as she did so she had a fleeting sensation of what her mentor must have gone through so long ago when Nabiki had studied at the feet of Mentor. Small wonder Lotion had seemed so amused half the time with the way her apprentice stumbled around grasping these concepts...

"I want you to picture a road stretching out in both directions," Nabiki began as she sensed and formed the words that would best convey her meaning, "That road is the path of your destiny...it stretches out from the time of your birth until the day you die, and everything that happens upon that road is your life, however it meanders, winds, turns and diverges at key points. Are you with me so far, Dear?"

"Yes Auntie," Sayo nodded with such a clarity in her expression that it briefly brought a lump to Nabiki, who was powerfully reminded of her much beloved older sister.

"Now," Nabiki said, "As far as you can tell there is only the one road that you are walking, and you can only go forward on that road, never backwards, never retracing your steps into the past. What lies ahead has yet to be, and what is past remains in the past forever. Each step you take on that road brings you closer to your destiny, and all that passes around you is the world in which you are living. You can see key points of your life like a silent observer taking notice of your surroundings and recalling past experiences and visions. At one point you see yourself as a child studying Kendo, and at a later point you become a young woman and achieve your title as heir to the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Somewhere down the line you encounter a boy named Hiroshi..." Nabiki smiled, seeing the younger girl color about her cheeks and look elsewhere, even as Hiroshi himself tried to pretend that he wasn't listening raptly to everything that he overheard. She decided then and there that she genuinely like this boy, and hoped that he would prove to be a good match for the gentle-mannered Sayo.

"At a further point down the road," Nabiki continued, "You find yourself coming to a crossroads where there is more than one path that can be chosen. You select one path and it takes you to a future where you are married with a husband and are having his children. In that life you are happy and fulfilled, but what if you chose the other path, the one that does not lead to such a happy outcome?"

Sayo had been blushing furiously at the mention of a husband and children, but now she looked up with renewed concern and said, "What do you mean, Auntie?"

"Suppose...just to be hypothetical about it," Nabiki urged with a raised finger, "Suppose you went down a path in which there is not a happy future but rather a path strewn with blood, death and violence. On that road you find sorrow, loss and bereavement, and you regret having chosen this path instead of the one that had a better outcome."

"But...how would I know about the other path if I didn't take it?" Sayo wondered.

Nabiki arched an eyebrow, "An excellent question, how would you know in advance which of the two paths was the correct one and which would bring you sorrow? In truth we don't really know the outcome of our choices when we make them, though we often have hints and intuitive flashes, and sometimes our future selves send mental warnings our way that causes us to choose differently than what we would have done without prior warning. Now...suppose instead of there being only one road there were several moving side-by-side next to one another, paths that we might have taken but which are invisible to our eyes, obscured by the landscape and leading off to places we cannot imagine."

"I suppose you would need a map to help sort things out," Sayo said thoughtfully, "One that had notations to let you know where there were obstacles and hazards."

Nabiki paused to take a serious look at this soft-spoken younger girl. Sayo had definitely inherited Kasumi's talent for understatement, not to mention her older sister's penchant for making astute observations about things that hardly anyone else would even consider.

"Ah...right," Nabiki lamely amended, "A map would be good, if we knew where to find one that had the requisite information."

"Oh," Sayo replied, "I see your point. Then I guess we'll never known about those other outcomes."

"Not necessarily," Nabiki cautioned, "Ranma and I are currently in the business of exploring the various worlds and possibilities that lay on worlds next to the world where we were born. To be more specific, we help patrol the time corridors to see that only a minimum amount of disruption of the timefield is allowed for. In that capacity we've been able to visit worlds where history was very different for other versions of ourselves who lived different lives and made many different choices. You see...in each world there is a copy of the people and places you know...just slightly different in some aspect, and the further sideways in time that you go the greater will be the divergence."

"I think I know what you're saying, Saotome-san," Hiroshi spoke up, "My mother came from another world very different from the Earth in that the people who lived there constitute a Demonic race called the Dark Ones. I'm...kind of a rare example of a human/dark-one mating, only I'm supposed to have some kind of big destiny to help unite our worlds in a future of meaningful peaceful coexistence..."

"I can vouch for that," Freya smiled, "You definitely got the look of a young man with an eventful future, though only the Norns can say for sure if you'll be successful in uniting both human and Dark races. Better not be too outspoken in voicing this, though...not a few types here might take unkindly to such talk, and you know how some people feel about 'Miscegenation...'"

"Quite," Nabiki replied, "Ranma's had more than his share of taunting growing up on account of his Gaijin looks, and those blue eyes of his definitely make him seem Oi to some racially minded Japanese people."

Sayo blinked her own lovely blue eyes but said nothing.

"Let me tell you something about your father," Nabiki re-addressed herself to the young Samurai girl, "I've known him most of my life, and what I don't know about his past isn't worth repeating. We met when I was seventeen and he was about a year younger, only at the time I had no idea what a wild ride it would be having him live in the same house. I found him arrogant, prideful, lacking in basic manners, crude of speech and often as witless as a Kuno with nothing more than his martial arts skills and a rude, unpolished nobility to distinguish him from other boys in his age group. To put it mildly, I was instantly fascinated."

"So, Sugar," Freya drawled, "Guess that type O' boy does appeal to y'all after all, eh?"

"Well..." for some damnable reason Nabiki found her cheeks flushing as a silly smile forced its way onto her lips, "At the time I didn't know what to make of him, so I fumbled away a perfect opportunity to get to know him better. His Dad and mine had engaged one of us to marry Ranma almost from the time of our birth, all in order to unite our two schools of martial arts into one dojo. It could have been me who got engaged to Ranma...it could have been your mother, Kasumi...but instead the two of us declined the honor and made the horrible mistake of passing the buck to our younger sister, Akane.

"To say the least it was a disaster from the get-go," Nabiki sighed, "A path, once taken, that should have been avoided, but I couldn't see that at the time, much though I wonder how I could have failed to...to recognize why it could never work between Ranma and my younger sister. Akane just lacked the temperament and maturity to know how to handle being engaged to a boy who was in so many ways like, yet so utterly lacking in tact, diplomacy and a basic survival instinct. If things had been different, or if they had just waited a few more years before they made it official, the marriage might have worked out and led to a happy outcome. Instead...instead the marriage faltered right from the beginning with Akane setting a pattern of abuse on their wedding night...and poor Ranma-kun..."

For a moment she could not continue, unexpected emotions welling up from within her, causing Nabiki to shut her eyes tightly and take several moments to calm herself before she could force herself to continue.

"Well...that was one world...one possibility, one future that should never have been taken," Nabiki turned to regard an astonished Sayo with unvoiced emotion in her eyes before she continued, "But in another world, I am happy to see, Ranma choose to marry Kasumi, and even if the result wasn't perfect it at least produced a daughter as beautiful as you. There are a lot of different choices that we make every day that have the sum total cumulative effect of shaping our future, and who knows at what point the path your parents took went one way and not another?"

"You are saying...that the man I have just met...is not really my father?" Sayo murmured.

"No," Nabiki shook her head adamantly, "He's your father, there is absolutely no doubt of that in my mind. I see a lot of him in you, balanced out by my dear, dear sister..." she took a moment to draw in a ragged breath then spoke once again, "I loved Kasumi dearly...she was like a mother to me growing up, the only person in whom I thought I could confide. It was only after years of knowing Ranma that I came to understand that your father was a person whom I could trust as both a friend and a companion. He most definitely is your father...never doubt that. It's just...he's what your father might have turned into had he chosen to marry Akane instead of my Oneechan..."

"And you love him, Auntie?" Sayo asked.

"Yes," Nabiki all but whispered the word, "With all my heart...though I won't say it aloud to anyone but you, dear. Ranma knows my feelings and returns them with interest, and I know he is devoted to me...just as he has been for the last twenty years since my father engaged us together."

"But...if he was married to your sister..." Sayo hesitated to say it, seeing the pain return to her Aunt's somber expression.

"What you're telling me is that I made the right decision all along," Freya softly pointed out, "Your sister needed someone in the marriage who could keep her from getting out of line, to balance out her dark elements and help her to get in touch with her hidden bisexual nature. Guess that's why the Saotome clan turned out to be such a happy-go-lucky venture, though that Ranko girl certainly puts me in mind of at least one or two of their kids, the cute little dickens."

"Ah yes...Ranko," Nabiki sighed, "Akane's daughter by Ranma...the one good thing that came out of at least one parallel world where their marriage ended badly. We've adopted her as our own, you see, and now she's studying to become a member of the Time Patrol to put her rather...unique talents to a good use. You can be very proud of your half-sister, Sayo-chan, she's a worthy daughter to the Houses of Saotome and Tendo, just as I suspect you will prove to be in good order."

"Ah..." Sayo began to say as thoughts turned to the bright and spirited redhead she had met only a short while before, but even as she was about to ask a question in that regard the redhead in question came trotting up alongside a very pleased-with-himself looking Ranma.

"So," Nabiki remarked as she sobered up and turned a neutral regard to her husband and niece-turned-daughter, "Who won the fight, or need I bother asking?'

"We did, Mom!" Ranko cheerfully waved a flag that she had been clutching with both of her hands, "See? They even awarded us the banner! We kicked Saxon Butt but good back there!"

"It was mostly the Kid's doing, honest," Ranma assured Nabiki with such a patently false look of innocence in his eyes that she was instantly suspicious, but chose not to openly challenge him on the subject, "You're a real chip off the old wood-block, Squirt, even Pop would have been impressed..." there was a brief shadow about his eyes, but it passed as swiftly as it had appeared there.

"Y'all have fun yourself, Lyn?" Freya asked as her daughter all but materialized alongside Ranko.

"You bet, Mother!" Lyn Reikou cheerfully replied as she turned to Ranko and said, "You've got some killer moves! Even Helmet never fought like that and she's the best in Nerima, or so she keeps on telling everybody."

"Hey, I've had some good teachers," Ranko grinned back at the other girl before fetching Sayo a wry look and adding, "We could have used you out there, Sis. I'll bet you could show these guys a thing or two about sword play."

"Ah...well..." Sayo said demurely, "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu isn't supposed to be used for sport, it's purpose is the defense of those who are unable to fight for themselves..."

"Damned straight it is," Ranma nodded, "You stick to your guns, Kids, and do the things you're best at. Don't ever let anybody give you grief and don't apologize for who and what you are. You're Saotomes, and that means you're better than some common thug who ain't got nothing better to do than to bother other folks who are minding their own business...no offense to you and your husband, lady."

"Why Sugar," Freya smiled back, "What in the Nine words do me and Tatty have to be offended about? What you're sayin' makes perfect sense from where we're sitting."

"If that's true, then Kuno's a better man than I remember," Ranma nodded, "Not to mention a whole lot more lucky. Well...I've had my fun, and if you girls are done gossiping about me, maybe it's time we got down to work before our Boss yanks our chain back into the office."

"Oh my," Freya mused, "Just like a Saotome...thinks the whole Multiverse revolves around him."

"I guess that's why the fates made him a Nexus," Nabiki philosophized, right before her wrist-com began to buzz her, "Ten-ah...Saotome here, go ahead?"

"Boss," said the voice of Ryonami, "I've got new info to update on those timelines we were monitoring. For some reason Continuum 92684713 just stabilized, then a divergence occurred and we got a multi-signature warp indicating that a party of residents were transported away to some new coordinates, 85249731."

"Have they now?" Nabiki murmured softly, "I wonder what's going down in that particular sector?"

"I don't know, Boss, but a continuum very close to it also had a brief Multi-  
signature visitation...86741253. It lasted about twenty-two-point-six minute and then the same group warped out with a few additional members to continuum 74968231."

"Hey," Ranma said, "Call me crazy but didn't those last two coordinates sound awfully familiar?"

"I follow you, Ranma-kun," Nabiki said with a serious expression, "It could be significant, or it cold mean nothing. Look in on it, would you, Ryo-chan? And give us an intercept vector on that party that's skipping through the timelines."

"Which ones?" Ryonami asked, "I've got at least two or three groups of multi-  
party Bogeys tripping around on non-parallel courses and I haven't yet been able to establish a pattern or reason. What I can say is that whoever is doing this is pretty damned powerful and good at covering his or her tracks. Even the Gods could learn a thing or two from this guy, but I'm pretty damned certain that whatever it is they're planning will probably be coming together real soon, so if I were you guys I'd be-HEY! Boss! I've got an incoming on your coordinates!"

"What?" Nabiki blinked, "Another crossover here?"

"It just popped up on my monitors," Ryonami reported, "And whatever it is, it's BIG, damned big! It's going to make a warp signature in another five, four, three, two, one..."

There was a shimmering effect on the playing field even as the opposing teams squared off for the kick-off of the new quarter. The Asgardian place-kicker had already sent the ball rocketing towards the Giants team when a huge form shimmered into existence directly in its path and deflected the pig-skin off onto the sidelines.

"What in the name of Y'mir's Bobby stockings?" Freya stood up in her seat, as did many others around her on both sides of the playing field.

"Hooboy," Ranko craned her neck as she stared up and UP at the towering figure.

"I don't believe it," Ranma softly whispered.

One of the giants sitting near to them was heard to rumble, "Now that's Big...I mean... REALLY big, as in Bigger than my Uncle Offskins..."

"A giant robot?" Hiroshi gasped, "Here?"

"Oh my," Sayo remarked, "It looks like a suit of armor."

Nabiki stared blankly at the hulking humanoid figure standing well over thirty meters tall, then spoke into her wrist-com and said, "Ryonami-chan..."

"Hey, don't look at me, Boss," came the reply of her subordinate, "Why do you think I never went out on a date with a Saotome...?

Continuum # 85249731

Roll Call:

Wanda Kenshiro -Daughter of Ranma and Aili, Fist of the Northstar Ryoma Saotome -Son/Daughter of Ranma and Ukyo, Heir to the Anything Goes Ryu Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Mosquiton and Inaho, 1/8th Vampyr Efreet Mitsuhara -Adopted daughter of Makoto and Ifurita, Demon-Goddess Tachi Kuno -Son of Tatewaki and Nabiki, Master of Nampo Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Konatsu and Shampoo, Apprentice Witch/Magus Minos Taro -Son of Pantsaru and Kasumi, Shotokan expert

"Okay," Carmine said with an exaggerated sigh, "Want to run that one by me again?"

"It's like I said," Ryoma replied without turning around to meet the gaze of the redhead, who now stood fairly even with her in height, "I have this...unusual metabolism...it's something I was born with, really. I turn into a girl whenever I get splashed with cold water."

"You mean it's a curse?" Carmine asked.

"Ah...well..." Ryoma shrugged, "I wouldn't really call it that, but it is caused by magic, and I inherited it from my father."

"Your father," Carmine repeated.

"Saotome Ranma," Ryoma finally turned to give an almost timid look in Carmine's direction, then she flinched and looked elsewhere.

"And your father...?" Carmine prodded.

"He also has this same ability," Ryoma replied, "Only he does think of it as a curse. I guess that's 'cause he never asked for it and blames it on Gramps for dunking him in that Chinese spring, Nyanniichuan."

"You got this from a cursed spring?" Carmine wondered.

"Jusenkyo," Ryoma replied, "It's called..."

"The Pools of Sorrow," Carmine finished for her, "Yeah, I speak Chinese, remember? I think I've heard of the place...it's supposed to be a legend..."

"Oh it's real, believe me on that," Ryoma rolled her eyes, "And because of it I've got a dual identity...half the time I'm a girl, the other half I'm that hunky guy you saw before. Weird, huh?"

"And which are you really?" Carmine wondered.

"To tell you the truth, I don't absolutely know," Ryoma's shoulders slumped, "To me it's a perfectly natural thing being both a girl and a guy...but if I had to guess, I'd say that the Boy-type is my natural form. After all that's how it is with Pop. He was born a man and cursed to turn into a girl. Personally I don't give a damn either way, I'm who I am and that's all that matters...or I used to think so..."

"You used to think so?" Carmine again repeated.

"Yeah," Ryoma sighed, "When I was just a kid I always thought it was neat that I could change my form and disguise myself to get out of whatever kind of trouble I'd sometimes get myself into, and Pop's got this thing against punishing girls, so you can imagine the stuff I could get away with. Not with Mom, though...she's the really strict one. She cracks the spatula anytime I get out of line and tans my bottom but good. If I've learned to be even half the martial artist I am today it was mostly so I could defend myself and avoid a spanking. Lucky for me Pop usually runs interference...Mom can never say no to him when he asks her nicely to talk things over in private."

"Sounds like you were a real brat growing up," Carmine noted, feeling her lips twitch with the urge to smile, which she fought down with some effort.

"Guess I was, but hey, that's life with my parents," Ryoma sniffed, "Thought things would be like that forever, guess I never counted on growing up and letting puberty hit me in the face with both barrels."

"You mean when you...ah..." Carmine felt her cheeks flush crimson.

"When I hit puberty and started growing boobs you mean?" Ryoma gave the Vampyr a sidelong look, then deliberately cupped the area of her shirt directly beneath the swelling bulge that denoted her currently feminine status, "What can I say? I've got good genetics. Of course when guys started noticing it felt a little...weird...but then girls started noticing me too, and when my Guy side started to get tall and lanky...well, I dunno what to say about that. It really started to feel weird when Tarot and Ivory started coming onto me and getting into fights together, like I was something to fight over. I mean...it's flattering and all, and they're nice, and I like them a lot, but...well...we grew up together...they're almost like my sisters."

She murmured the latter part with a nervous glance in Tarot's direction. Fortunately the blue haired girl was standing off by herself and conferring in private with Tachi and Efreet while Wanda and Minos hung around off in the background.

"And then..." Ryoma began to say, then paused before resuming, "There are the other girls who sometimes get interested in me, only they find out about what I turn into and...well...some of them get pretty freaked out and avoid me. Before too long everybody on our campus is acting weird whenever I'm around and I can't even approach a girl without seeing the look in their eyes, which tells me that they've been listening to the rumors."

"What rumors?" Carmine wondered.

"Ah...well..." Ryoga hesitated, "Never mind, okay? They're just not true, so leave it at that."

"So..." Carmine began to say, hesitating herself before going on, "Do you...like girls?"

"Ah...well," Ryoga scratched at her pig-tail and said sheepishly, "If you want the honest truth...I do. That thing I just said about Tarot and the other girls? Well...I ain't as dense as a brick that I don't notice that they're stacked and real lookers. I feel pretty much the same way in either of my two forms, but people look at me weird when I tell them that, like they think I'm a lesbian or something..."

"Well..." again Carmine hesitated before resuming, "Technically...you are..."

"But only half the time," Ryoma responded, "The rest of the time I'm straight Hetero...though Tachi likes to tease me and say I just haven't met the right guy yet."

"And...what do you feel about your friend, Tachi?" Carmine wondered.

"Tachi?" Ryoma replied, "He's my best friend, and we've definitely been through a lot together, but I don't look at him that way, and he knows it. Besides..." Ryoma added slyly, "I think he's coming on with that smooth charm of his onto your best buddy."

"Eh?" Carmine turned to follow the other girl's gaze and saw the way her companion was standing rather conspicuously near to the boy, Tachi, when ordinarily Efreet would be hovering at Carmine's side like a refrigerator magnet...and in all truth to tell she did not know exactly what to make of the matter, and why she was feeling a curious territorial inclination towards Efreet, who certainly knew better than anyone how to handle herself in most situations.

"Look," Ryoma forced herself to turn around and confront Carmine, compelling the young Vampyr to return her focus in her direction, "You don't have to say nothing if you're a little freaked about me being like this. I'm used to people giving me funny looks when they find out..."

"Who says I'm freaked?" Carmine reacted, "I was...just a little surprised is all. I didn't know you were a switch hitter."

"Ah?" Ryoma hesitated once again before daring to sound a tiny bit hopeful, "Then you're not mad at me for fooling you or stuff like that? I never meant to give anybody the wrong impression about me..."

"Look," Carmine forced herself to address the other girl squarely, "Weird to me isn't you turning into a girl when you get wet...weird for me has a WHOLE different connotation, like you couldn't imagine!"

"Say what?" it was Ryoma's turn to look confused.

"Weird for me," Carmine continued, "Is guys who turn into big and ugly monsters with longs of fangs and teeth and who really do want to eat you. My folks are Archeologists, you see, and they've...taken me to some pretty weird places in their travels collecting antiques. You obviously already know about magic and the supernatural, well try having Ghosts and Demons pop up on a regular basis, and my two best friends growing up were a pair of elementals. That and the fact that my Dad can get a little scary if he takes a hip out of Mom and...well...never mind about that stuff, okay?"

"Ah...sure," Ryoma inclined her head and allowed herself to really and truly study the face of the other girl, paying closer attention to the odd little things that looked out of place about her, such as her pointed ears and pronounced canines, and her crimson eyes that looked somehow almost...predatory. Then again there was her unusually pale complexion, like she was either anemic or an albino, and it all added up to a girl who was a real mystery, and one he found very intriguing.

For her part Carmine could not help staring back at the beautiful girl who had been a boy earlier in the day, a boy whose tone and manner reeked of such confident swagger that she could hardly have expected him to have dark skeletons in his closet, even though that was the pattern of her life, always discovering that what looked to be too perfect usually wasn't. Ryoma's hair had a reddish-  
auburn cast that was distinctively different from his chestnut-brown hair as a boy, and those impressive blue eyes stood out even more noticeably from the softer lines of a fully feminine face, not quite the same as the rugged handsomeness of Ryoma's Bishonen male form, but definitely no less charismatic.

"Er..." Ryoma broke the long silence that hung between them, "Mind if I ask a personal question?"

"Huh?" Carmine replied, then shook herself and said, "Ah...go ahead..."

"What's the deal between you and Efreet?" Ryoma asked, "You say she's an Android...but she's also your best friend?"

"Er...well..." Carmine said sheepishly, "Like I said, my parents are Archeologists, and we travel a lot. Well...one day my folks paid a visit to a Professor Mitsuhara at Nekomi-Tec University where I met up with Efreet and...well...somehow we wound up all going on an adventure together...it was one of those really weird days when stuff you wouldn't believe just...happens..."

"Oh...yeah..." Ryoma smiled lopsidedly, "I've...sort of had days like that myself..."

"Anyway," Carmine sighed, "To make a long saga into a short tell, I found out about Efreet's nature when she...sort-of started to run out of juice and needed a wind-up. I was able to get her going again...which was kind of returning the favor for me...well, anyway, before I knew it Efreet was acting real nice to me and doing me all kinds of favors, then she asked if I wanted to be her Master..."

"Say what?" Ryoma arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I said," Carmine resumed, "Well, it turns out that she's from an ancient land called El Hazard where they once had super-  
advanced technology, only most of it got blown away in a war that reduced civilization to the late bronze age. The Demon Gods were among the ultimate super-weapons created by the Ancients in order to exterminate one another, and Efreet was a prototype for a whole new model just before the civilization that created her ended. Whoever built her only had enough time to load a partial program into her operating software, the rest of her is a blank slate tabla rasa upon which her current personality was written. She was discovered sleeping in a tomb by her parents, who adopted and raised her as their own, teaching her all that they could about what it means to be human. That's why she acts so human most of the time...it's just that she's...a little na ve about some things. It's like there's this little girl inside her whose crying out to become a fully adult woman, and I guess she's been looking to me the last couple of years in hopes that I'll set a few good examples."

"So you're kind of like her role model," Ryoma smiled, "Guess that makes you her personal idol."

"You think so?" Carmine blinked, then glanced to the side as the person in question was limping slightly as she approached, leaning on her staff for more support than usual.

"Carmine?" Efreet asked, her feet now firmly planted on solid ground, "Are you busy? I'm feeling tired. I think I need to have my spring wound again, if it really isn't too much trouble?"

"Ah..." Carmine was aware of the looks the others were turning her way and felt her cheeks color again, but a sudden inspiration came upon her right there and then and she said, "Why don't you ask Tachi-san to help you? I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping you out."

"Eh?" the boy so designated looked taken aback by the question.

"Really?" Efreet asked, "You wouldn't really mind?"

"Honey," Carmine touched Efreet's arm affectionately, "You're a big enough girl now...I think you can stand to have your spring get wound by somebody else who likes you. Don't worry, I'll give him a few pointers."

"GAH!" Kuno Tachi was suddenly looking panicked, but before he could turn to flee he found himself being cornered by Ryoma.

"What's the matter, Lover-boy?" Ryoma teased, "You going shy on us all of a sudden?"

"No, what ever put that perverted thought into your head?" Tachi protested a bit too loudly, "It's just that...well...we hardly know each other...and it just wouldn't be proper..."

"Nonsense," Carmine grinned, showing off her fangs in a way that did seem predatory, "It's as easy as clockwork...see?" she went around behind Efreet and lifted the back part of the other girl's outfit, exposing a round socket-like slot in the space where the small of the back would be located on another woman.

"Oh my," Tarot examined Efreet more closely, "She really does have a socket outlet..."

"Do you mind, guys?" Efreet seemed slightly ruffled, "It's really personal, y'know? If you're gonna wind me up, then please don't gawk and make jokes about it."

"Sorry Honey," Carmine apologized as she took Efreet's key-staff from the dark haired girl's hand then placed the business end at the socket and turned to regard Tachi, "You do know how to wind a clock? Just use counter-clockwise motions."

"Hah?" Tachi said as he allowed himself to be led by Ryoma, who placed his hands on the wide part of the giant key then urged him to start turning the handle.

"Everybody stand back," Carmine urged as she followed her own advice, "This tends to generate a lot of excess static."

Tachi began to turn the key-staff, feeling something turn inside the socket in Efreet's back, then to his amazement he felt the hairs along his arms begin to stand on end, and as he wound it a second notch he felt electrical sparks jump over his arms and cause his nape-hairs to stand on end. It was not an unpleasant sensation, though, so he turned it again and found the static level kept on climbing.

"I don't believe it," Tarot remarked, "An android wound up on a spring mechanism?"

"It's her starter system," Carmine replied, "It works on the principle of a fly-  
wheel and it keeps her systems internally balanced. Her actual power source is fusion based, but when she's been engaging in some heavy activity her control systems work in overdrive, which is why she needs to have her spring wound up again."

"Why in the hell would anybody design her like that?" Ryoma wondered.

"Obviously to control her," Carmine replied with a hint of mild anger, "Her creators had a justifiable fear that their Demon Gods would run amuck and destroy all civilization, so they deliberately engineered a design flaw that would cause them to run out of juice if they saw continuous operation. If Efreet's spring winds down all of the way she goes dormant, sort of like taking a nap and her systems shut down, like a deep hibernation. The longer she fights the sooner her spring winds, and because of a latent program directive build into her operating software she's obligated to the holder of the Key Staff and must do his bidding...though that program was later amended."

"Say what?" Tachi called out even as sparks were jumping from his arms and striking the ground in all directions.

"Fascinating," Wanda remarked, "So much power contained in such a human vessel, and yet she has vulnerabilities to dilute her fearsome menace."

"She's something else all right," Minos agreed, not bothering to add that the Android clearly had the power to fascinate the otherwise unflappable Kuno Tachi.

The electrical sparks were now surrounding the amazed young Nampo master, but Tachi continued to wind until he heard a slight beeping sound, at which point Carmine called out, "Okay, Hot-shot, that's enough! You don't want to overdo it. How are you feeling, Efreet-Honey?"

As the sparks faded from around her body, Efreet yawned and stretched the said, "Great! I really needed that a lot! Thanks, Tachi!"

"Er...don't mention it," Tachi said as he withdrew the key from the slot, then handed the staff to the smiling Android.

"You know...I've been meaning to say this, but you're cute," Efreet gave him a big-eyed fond stare that left the other boy feeling steamed around the collar, "Do you want to be my new Master?"

"Say...what?" Tachi squeaked as took a stunned half step backwards.

"Just kidding," Efreet chuckled musically, "My parents insist that I'm much too young to be looking for a Master, and besides...I'd rather stay with Carmine for now...do you mind?"

"Huh?" Tachi's brain was obviously going into overload and looked ready to fuse into a lump of clay at any moment. It didn't help is already fragile equilibrium when the beautiful Android girl stood up on tip-toes and planted a kiss on his cheek before saying, "Anytime you want to wind my spring up for real, just say the word...Master."

She then pleasantly turned and floated over to Carmine's side, hovering near to her friend's ear before murmuring a soft, "Thanks...I owe you for that one big time, Carmine-sama."

"Don't mention it," Carmine's fangs were in evidence as she grinned wolfishly at the stupefied boy staring blankly out into space, "From where I stand it looks like the need was mutual."

"Hello?" Ryoma leaned forward, "Earth to Tachi? Come in Tachi, are you in there?"

The guy-turned-girl playfully patted her best friend between the shoulder blades, meaning to jolt the young Kuno out of his dazed condition, but to their collective amazement Tachi collapsed like a statue, landing face-first in the dirt. Ryoma blinked her eyes in amazement until Tarot made the official pronouncement, "Well, what do you know? Don Juan here just fainted."

"Tachi-sama?" Efreet was instantly concerned, hovering over the unconscious boy and probing him with a hesitant finger, "Hey, you okay? You didn't get shocked or anything bad like that, did you?"

"Naw, he'll be all right," Minos grinned in obvious relish, "Serves him right, the stuffed shirt. First time I ever saw a frail turn the tables on our campus Romeo."

"If the guys back at our school could only see this..." Ryoma agreed, then slapped herself, "Doh! If I only had a camera!"

"Poetic justice," Tarot agreed.

"A real man among men it seems," Wanda slowly nodded.

"Efreet," Carmine smiled as new inspiration hit her, "I think the poor boy needs to go for a swim. Why don't you take him down to the river and help cool him off, okay?"

"Okay," Efreet smiled and casually grabbed a hold of the boy beneath her with both hands and lifting him easily into her arms, then floating off in the direction of the nearby clear lake with as much ease as a mother doing the same thing with her infant baby.

"Those two are gonna make one heck of a couple," Minos shook his head, "Only problem is she's probably AC and he's Direct Current."

"Shocking," Ryoma slowly nodded.

"I almost feel sorry for poor Tachi," Tarot smiled, "Almost."

"You are certain that your friend is sufficiently knowledgeable in first-aid that she can revive a victim of shock?" Wanda asked aloud.

"Well," Carmine smiled, "A part of the raw information that was part of her download is a working knowledge of human anatomy, so I'm pretty sure she can see to it he doesn't drown, why?"

"Oh...just a hunch I had," Wanda mused, "I think I will also explore this phenomenon of naturally occurring clear water. We don't have such things back on my world, and water is too precious to be put to purposes such as bathing."

"You're kidding?" Minos blinked, "You sure don't smell like you haven't bathed recently, Babe."

"I routinely cleanse my body with sand and meditation," Wanda replied, "But I admit to being curious as how they did such things before the Wasting."

"Then by all means do try it," Tarot urged, turning a wry look towards Ryoma and Carmine, "Why don't we all take the plunge together and clean ourselves up from the dust we accumulated on that other world? I, for one, do not intend to smell badly, and my skin is far too sensitive to abrasions to even think of using sand as a cleansing agent."

"Well..." Ryoma started to say.

"Oh, don't be such a stick-in-the-mud, Ryo-chan," Tarot smiled as she took the other girl by the arm and drew her forward, "You're already a girl, so what have you to worry about, that others might see you? Surely you won't mind showing off your body...the Kami know you've never been too shy about it in the past."

"Hey!" Carmine suddenly found her own hackles were rising as she took off after the other two girls, not knowing quite why she felt this odd urge to protect Ryoma from the suspiciously predatory behavior of the blue haired Witch-girl.

Minos paused to watch them pass then shook his head and said, "Long as it's not my sister, I don't wanna get involved..."

"How do you mean?" Wanda asked.

"As long as I've known Ryoma-guy or girl-she tends to draw trouble to her like a magnet," Minos growled, "Which is why Belldandy's too good for a creep like that."

"You puzzle me," Wanda admitted, "At times you seem almost angry at her, and yet at other times I sense a feeling of deep affection. Are you friends, enemies or rivals?"

"Huh...depends what time you ask me," Minos harrumphed, turning a look back to the taller woman, "And what about you, lady? You've been staring at everything like a tourist since we got here..."

"This world is such a puzzle to me," Wanda confessed, "I do not sense the lingering decay and death of the world that I was born to. It is a world of lush greenery, of sights that have never greeted my eyes in all of my travels. This is a world where life teems, where possibilities undreamed of in my world..." she paused and said, "I suppose I am being silly. I have never talked so much in my life...I almost feel giddy."

Minos stared at the silver haired giantess, at her almost inhuman beauty that belied the harsh ruggedness of her frame and the many traces of scars that lined her arms and neck and other exposed portions of her body. He was finding it incredible to discover that a woman such as this could exist, so gentle-voiced and melodious one moment, so terrifyingly destructive the next, it was incredible to believe that so many facets could exist in the selfsame person.

"Well then," Wanda surprised him with a note of wry amusement in her eyes, "Perhaps you might care to join me in my bath? I could use a set of hands helping me out in reaching places I find...somewhat awkward to tend to by myself..."

"HHUHHH?" Minos's eyes went round and his jaw nearly hit the ground, "You want me to...to...tooooo...?" and then he promptly fainted.

"Well then," Wanda mused to herself, "That was easier than I thought it would be."

With those words pronounced she casually reached down and picked up the large boy, slinging him over her shoulder as she started off for the nearby lake, where already she could see other parties going about the serious business of stripping down naked.

And from a distance not too far away, nestled among the tree branches, two sets of eyes watched all this take place from between the slits of their masks before one turned to the other and hissed softly, "We must return at once and report this to his Lordship."

His companion silently nodded and then like a pair of shadows they flitted off into the depths of the woodland...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Writers of the Storm: shadowmane

Sinister forces continue to gather about our intrepid (and slightly underaged) heroes as they seek to take a breather from all the action. Be with us next time for: "The Taming of the Crew," or "It's not the Size of your Robot, it's what you do with it that counts!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	11. Chapter 11

RanCubed10

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

Chapter Ten.

War Dames

Continuum # 74968231

"Commander, Admiral Hunter is here to conduct the mission briefing. Shall I have her escorted to the command deck?"

"Acknowledged," Commander Maxwell Stirling responded, "Give the Admiral and her escort our compliments and let her know that all is in readiness for operation Zero Alpha."

"It will be nice to see Rick and Lisa again," Lieutenant Commander Miriam remarked as she smiled sidelong at her husband, "This will be the first time the four of us have been able to get together since they returned from their excursion to the Neptune colony."

"I'm sure we'll have time to socialize once the tests are concluded," Max replied, "Assuming everything goes off without a hitch...and I'm crossing my fingers about that."

Miriam heaved a sigh, knowing better than to attempt to console her chosen mate when it came to such matters as his trying to impress his best friend and former Wing-mate, now turned a full-fledged Ship's Captain. As long as Miriam had known those two, Max and Rick had been locked in a game of friendly competition with each one trying to one-up and impress the other. It was all she and Lisa could do to hold their respective husbands back from some of their more reckless and hair-brained impulses, what Lisa had once termed their "Testosterone Endurance Tests."

Not that she and Lisa did not at times indulge in similar such "friendly competition," but that was just to keep their reflexes sharp so that their younger subordinates did not get the idea that the "Old Timers" were getting slow and complacent.

Almost too soon for Max's liking the pneumatic doors to the turbo-life hissed open and he unconsciously straightened himself out in time to receive a cursory inspection from his commanding officer, Rear Admiral Lisa Hunter, who was stunningly immaculate in her white dress uniform, every bit as prim and proper as when she had first served on the SDF-1 under the legendary Captain Global. At her side stood an equally formal-looking Rick Hunter, Captain of the SDF-2, the current flagship for the Combined Solar Defense Forces, the successor of the now-defunct Earth Alliance Military. While Lisa had her light-brown hair done up in a formal military braid, Rick's hair was just barely within regulation, giving him that "scruffy look" that no formal rank, uniform or title could ever totally banish from Max's eyes. Though a committed officer dedicated to the present regime, at heart he remained a rebel and would always be one to the core, Lisa's influence notwithstanding.

"Admiral," Max saluted after the formal piping and announcement of their presence, "Good to see you again. I'm glad that you could spare the time to attend these tests."

"Considering how much of our current budget this project has been commandeering," Lisa replied after returning the salute and bidding that Max and Miriam (along with the rest of the Command Central crew) be at ease, "It would be rather surprising not to have a formal consultation. I've been studying recent reports in great detail and wanted to take the opportunity to see first-  
hand what you're hoping to accomplish."

"I'm sure you'll find everything in order," Max acknowledged his wife with a nod, "Miriam's been in charge of directly overseeing the program and training the pilots, I just give the nod to her decisions. She's the one best suited to explain the purposes and achievements of Project Alpha-Zero-83."

"Otherwise known as Project Gundam?" Rick spoke up softly, giving Max that quirky little nod that suggested that his longtime friend had been playing one too many Vid-simulations.

"Ah...well, about that..." Max winced slightly.

"Captain," Miriam replied, "It is true that the recent Metallurgical discoveries of Professor Hiram Gundam have played a great role in the formation of this program...his discovery of Element 149 on the Periodic table, which has been termed Gundanium by our scientists, holds the key to the revolutionary new form of Poly-Dermal Alloy that we are incorporating into these prototype fighters, but I assure you that the results of our tests have far exceeded our expectations. Max is understandably modest about the program so far, but with our revised projections of the ultimate threshold of their potential..."

"We know all about the technical side of the program, Commander," Lisa spoke formally, with just the slightest lilt in her voice to hint at underlying affection, "But what concerns us are the test pilots currently working in this program. We've heard some disturbing rumors that we'd like to have answered."

"Ah...yeah," Max visibly sweated, "The Pilots...well...we can assure you that they've endured all of the most rigorous screening procedures and are the best and the brightest of their class, the top-rated candidates who have so far been responsible for pushing our machines beyond the limits of what we once thought was possible in a fighter..."

"In some cased a bit more beyond the threshold than others," Miriam added with a slight quirk of her lips as the former Zentradi Combat Ace felt a mixture of pride and exasperation as she thought back over the long, long, LONG months that had so far elapsed in her personal training of these gifted pilots.

"Lisa and I would like to know more about these individual candidates," Rick remarked, "Beginning with the fact that the oldest among them is seventeen...?"

"Flight Lieutenant Akira Saotome, to be exact," Lisa paused before adding, "Are those rumors right about her being a cross-dresser?"

"Er...well..." Max wondered if it would count as impolite for him to sit down and order up a drink before answering that particular question.

"Admiral," Miriam valiantly spoke up for him, nodding to a technician, who called up the individual Pilot technical displays and posted them on a large-  
screen monitor relief, "Lieutenant Saotome has a...rather unique constitution that appears to have been inherited from her father, who was killed during the war along with Akira's mother, Yuki Saotome. For ten years she has been raised by her fraternal grandfather, who taught her in the traditions of their family's martial arts school. When Akira turned sixteen she volunteered for the Service and was selected for this program...nominally to honor the memory of her parents, but in all candor, I believe it was also to put some distance between herself and her grandfather."

"Was she being abused as a kid?" Rick asked with a narrowing of his eyes.

"That...would depend on your definition," Miriam charitably replied, avoiding adding that as an Zentradi she felt honor-bound to hunt down and exterminate the rogue who would dare do such things with any child placed in his trust. If even half the rumors that she heard about the man were true...

"Lieutenant Saotome is the Pilot commanding Unit Zero-One Alpha, code-named Firebird owing to its sleek design and considerable heat tolerances," Max explained as a means of redirecting the question to a less controversial subject, "Akira has bonded with her unit to such an astounding degree that she can practically move in her unit like it was an extension of her own flesh and blood. Such things were never possible before in the old Valkyrie units of our time."

"Interesting," Lisa remarked as she scanned the display screens, "Her performance rating is certainly very high for someone so young...in fact, if I didn't know better, I'd swear they even exceeded your ratings, Max."

"Er...well..." Max replied with a sheepish expression, "Saotome has a very...unusual combat style that she seems to have worked out for herself, and she is highly competitive, doesn't like to take second best to anybody. She has a rather 'Take-No-Prisoners" approach to the whole subject of combat, which-  
coupled with her phenomenal reflexes and hand-to-eye coordination-makes her just about the best darned pilot over all..."

"Sounds like a real maverick," Rick replied, "I hope she isn't just another hotshot who crashes and burns before they reach their full potential."

"Sounds rather like someone else I once knew," his wife eyed him with just a mild hint of pleasant irony before she banished the emotion and resumed her stoical military reserve, not that anyone was fooled by her pretenses.

"Being young and full of yourself is all fine and good," Rick softly countered, "Just as long as you don't push it too far and get somebody killed, whether it's you or a fellow pilot."

"Not to worry on that score," Miriam assured the Captain, "I've done my level best to beat most of the nonsense out these wet-behind-the-ears cadets, and I assure you that they will pull together as a unit when challenged. Of course...that isn't to say that they aren't competitive with one another..."

"Um...yeah," Max decided that he definitely DID NOT WANT to elaborate on that subject, especially in front of Admiral Lisa!

"The second Pilot is nearly as gifted as the first," Miriam resumed as a second figure was called up on the monitor, complete with statistics, "First Lieutenant Urika Kuonji...she grew up in the same district as Akira and is something of a...childhood friend of hers. They both entered the Academy at about the same time and wound up sharing a berth beside her in the selection process. She's quick, inventive, a good strategist and is currently Akira's wingman in the program. She has a somewhat more relaxed style than Saotome, but don't let it fool you, she's as deadly as they come in battle."

"The third pilot comes from a small rural community in the heartland of Western China," Max continued, "Saber Kuno, the heir to one of our major weapons industrialists though I understand that she is currently somewhat...estranged from both of her parents. She's a combination daredevil and acrobat who pulls in tight and never lets go of her target objectives. Lieutenant Saber likes to rattle her opponent's cages and soften them up before going for the kill. She has highly refined predatory instincts and reflexes that are nothing short of unbelievable. Even I wouldn't want to pull formation with this girl...she can run rings around you in a Valkyrie and never even have to hit her afterburners."

"She also has something of a problem with authority figures, or so I'm given to understand," Admiral Hunter duly noted.

"Ah...well...Saber is a bit of a risk taker," Miriam noted before adding in sour undertones, "But nothing like our next cadet, Second Lieutenant Trolla Galt."

"She's a Zentradi, isn't she?" Rich duly noted.

"Oh...yes," Miriam winced before adding, "In point of fact...she's my younger sister."

"Your what?" Lisa looked at her sharply.

"Well," Miriam amended, "In a sense she is my sister...from a Clone's perspective. Recall that prior to the end of the war our people did not reproduce the way you humans do...or the way I had my little Dana," she added with a brief quirk of a smile as she thought of the precocious blonde haired girl who was the pride and joy of both of her parents, "Trolla was born of the same genetic tissues that I was created from, in point of fact it was meant to be a tribute to my skills as a pilot and a great honor that I was selected for the reproduction process. She was a mere child when the war ended and had not been fully matured to her adult phase. After being reduced to Micronian size she was enrolled in a human academy as part of our cultural integration program and grew up with human sponsors for her surrogate parents. She...had a bit of an adjustment problem, but got good academic scores and managed to qualify for our pilot program..."

"But you think she's a bit too overqualified in some areas?" Rick shrewdly deduced.

This time Miriam did not even bother to hide her exasperation, "Understand...I exercised no favoritism with her, nor would she have tolerated being treated as different by the other cadets, but...being around her is a bit too painful a reminder of what I must have been like when I was a mere novice..." she rolled her eyes as if beseeching the Universe for pity.

"She's an excellent pilot, has very aggressive tendencies that she manages to control...for the most part," Max explained for the benefit of the others, "But recently she's gotten into something of a semi-friendly rivalry with certain of the other cadets, most specifically Akira. She's taken to challenging her to a series of dogfights with the aim of determining which of them is the better pilot...and...being Zentradi...well...she takes it very personal that she's so far been unable to come out on the winning end. Far from discouraging her, though, she seems to relish the challenge and even competes with Akira when the two of them are not sharing a cock-pit."

"Gee, doesn't that sound familiar?" Rick noted rather archly.

"I wonder why that is," Lisa added in the same dry lilt, "Would you happen to have a clue, Commander?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Miriam replied with a straight face, though inwardly she cringed a little. If these two only knew HOW MUCH like herself Trolla was behaving...

"Well..." Max decided changing the subject once again would be a good career move, "Lastly, but far from the least, is our own little Dana...and no, we didn't have anything to do with her being admitted into this program, other than being her parents."

"It's just the natural result of superior genetics," Miriam said a bit smugly, relieved to be on a subject that she could actually take pride in (not that she had any regrets about how she first met her husband, other than the part about trying to kill him).

"Dana is the pilot of Unit Five, code-named Sunstone, also due to the unique properties it possesses," Max continued, "She's something of the group's self-  
designated peacemaker and arbiter...she works out problems with the team and helps keep them functioning like a unit. She may only be ten years of age but she's physically as mature as any of the others..."

"Naturally," Miriam noted, "We Zentradi never saw the point in waiting two decades to turn our warriors into pilots, so we save on the time by maturing more swiftly. As the first hybrid Human-Zentradi child she has a somewhat unique perspective for understanding where each of her fellow pilots comes from and can play both the diplomat and the warrior where needed. I dare say she is destined for great things and may even one day command her own starship."

"That'll be a great day for the Universe when it happens," Rick remarked, "We need more ship commanders with that level-headed a mindset if we're to make this Alliance a permanent one. Lisa and I approve of her inclusion."

"Ah...there is one question I've been meaning to ask," Lisa raised a finger, "I know this must sound odd coming from me, but...why are all the cadets in this program female?"

"Ah..." Max smiled sheepishly, "Well...it does sound a bit odd, but...Miriam?"

The former Zentradi warrior smiled, glad to come to the aid of her beloved mate, "Simple biological fact of humanoid construction. The female of the species requires less in raw material such as food, air and water, while possessing a more tightly compacted frame and a more efficient neural-motor response system...which in simpler terms means a better hand-to-eye coordination, sharper reflexes and a better resilience to G-stress-tolerances..."

"In other words they can handle the demands of piloting these new-type Gundanium-alloyed fighters," Rick translated, but could not help adding, "But if you girls are so much better in combat than us boys, then why was it Max keep beating you in combat?"

"Why, it's simple, Captain," Miriam said a non-regulation smirk on her lovely lips, "Max is the exception to the rule, as he is quite exceptional in so many other..."

"Ah-hem!" Max hastily cut her off, "Let's leave the personal stuff out of this, okay Hon?"

"He's also so very modest," Miriam continued grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat, "Which is part of his charm. But as you say, my love, let's stick to the professional business at hand."

Lisa was having evident trouble maintaining a straight face herself as she forced herself to say, "Why do these new type fighters put such high demands on the pilots?"

"That's...quite a story in and of itself," Max replied with some relief in his expression, "As you know we lost a lot of good people back during the war, and because we were numerically so weak we couldn't prevent the Zentradi fleet from laying waste to a good third of the surface of this planet. These new types, however, use an entirely new form of propulsion, combining what we've learned from our Zentradi allies and good-old-fashioned Earth-ingenuity. We call it a Vernier-Fusion reaction, a far more efficient method of propulsion that could save greatly on fuel costs and increase the range of our long-range fighters, but which has such immense power output that it causes a ship to move at speeds exceeding even the fastest reaction time of any human pilot."

"It became necessary to increase the power of a ship's on-board neural network, forming a kind of Artificial Intelligence net that greatly simplifies matters for the pilot by making millions of tiny adjustments at the speed of human thought," Miriam added for her husband, "This would enable a ship to fly straight through an asteroid field without at once colliding with any object the size of a pebble. Of course this would seem to suggest that a fighter would not even need a human pilot, and that would be a grave error."

"No AI we've developed to date can totally replace a human pilot in all the respects that truly matter," Max resumed, "Machines just don't have our ability to judge values qualitatively, as opposed to quantitative, or make spot-  
decisions that can have long-reaching implications. A machine can't judge right from wrong on either an ethical or moral values, and it can't re-interpret orders according to changing conditions like a human can. A machine can only react to programming instructions, it can't be creative or devise a new strategy according to an ever-changing set of conditions. Perhaps one day machines like that would be possible...but from where I sit, I really wouldn't feel comfortable leaving such life-and-death issues in the hand of something cold, unfeeling and artificial...would you?"

"You don't even have to ask that question," Rick smiled, "The day they come up with a machine like that is the day I can kiss off on my pension."

"So it became necessary to keep ultimate control over all major decisions in the hands of a human pilot," Miriam resumed, "Of course such a pilot would need to be able to react rapidly to stimulus in order to keep up with the computer, decisions made with lightning speed that can mean the difference between life and death on the field of battle."

"Plus there's also the fact that a Vernier system generates incredible shifts in mass, velocity and inertia...far more than that for which a conventional system can compensate, and it all adds up for real trouble for the pilot," Max noted with a sympathetic wince, "We both know what piloting a Valkyrie would be like without an Inertial dampening and vector compensating system..."

"Oh yeah," Rick rolled his eyes, "Exit pilot, enter instant guacamole."

"More like strawberry Jam," Lisa corrected, "But I think that's as far as we need to go with the mental imagery, thank you."

"Right," Miriam steadfastly agreed, "The point is that a pilot needs not only quick reflexes but a strong constitution and a compact body-frame that is lean, tight and well-fitted. In that respect you hunky boys have a little too much muscle and bone on you to qualify...it's also why a younger pilot would have a better chance of adapting to this system..."

"I follow you," Rick winced, "But do you have to rub it in?"

"Anyway," Max resumed, "It's just luck of the draw that the best potential candidates all turned out to be women...well...at least sort-of in one case..."

"Commander," one of the officers at her console station called out, "Lieutenant Saotome is reporting that all systems check out on her unit, and all station monitors are in the green. We are ready to commence operations as soon as the word is given."

"Then the word is given," Max turned to Lisa and added, "If that meets with your approval, Admiral."

"All right by me," Lisa replied, "We came for a show, might as well get this thing going."

"Switch to tactical relief and signal the pilots to get started," Miriam instructed the operator on duty, "Tell them to give the Admiral a good show, but go easy on the hardware."

"Easy on the hardware?" Rick repeated, "How's that?"

"Our pilots are a little...spirited when they get down to playing rough," Max explained, then decided not to elaborate and nodded to the monitor screens, "Just watch, you'll find out."

"Oh yes," his wife silently murmured, "You can definitely count on that, if I know anything about my pilots..."

Team Alpha-Zero,  
Wing Gundam Training Unit

Saotome Akira sat ready in her cockpit, reflexively conducting one final systems check in preparation for battle, knowing perfectly well that this would be more than just a simulated game or an ordinary training exercise. This was a war pure and simple, and no matter what they thought back at headquarters there would be blood flowing before the day is out. It was not that Akira desired to see more blood, but with the nature of her luck it was simply something that had to be taken for granted.

Which was just a bloody pain in the rear as far as Akira was concerned. Getting away from the old man by joining the military had seemed like a good career move, but who knew the kind of troubles she'd be buying into by qualifying for this advanced prototype training unit? Not her for one, that was for certain! As if the entire course of her life had not prepared her to expect these sorts of complicated plot twists from the great "Comedy Writer" in the Heavens.

But what else could you expect when your family name was Saotome?

Even as she thought these thoughts the Voice-com recognition system informed her of the Commander's decision to begin the operation, so Akira acknowledged with her call-sign, then passed the signal along to the rest of her unit.

"Unit One to Battle Teams Gold and Silver, time to move out, and try to keep it civil this time. Headquarters is watching."

That latter part had been spoken a bit forlornly, knowing full well it was futile to hold certain team members back when they got going full-out, but she reasoned that it was at least worth the effort to try and get through to those hot-heads who gave her the most aggravation. It was not simply that she actually did not want to see anyone hurt in her unit, it was just that being the cause of such intense feuding was not something that she needed to have on her conscience...to say nothing of her Military record!

Both teams signaled their reception of the order, but one jumped the gun a bit and broke cover before the others, which was only to be expected when the pilot in question was Unit Four, code-named Steelshark, i.e.: Trolla Galt, Zentradi born and bred despite her many years living as an Earth woman.

"Silver Two," Akira called out, "Stay with your wingman. Silver One...try and keep her out of trouble."

"I'll do my best," came Dana's exasperated reply, and Akira felt sympathy for the young half-Zentradi, knowing that Dana had more in the way of restraint than Trolla when it came to the battle rage born and bred into their people.

"Gold Team move out," Akira directed, "And Gold One...watch your back."

"I'd rather have you watch it for me, Sugar," came Urika's cheerful reply, "But the sentiments are duly appreciated."

"Gold Two...stay on her," Akira tried to keep exasperation out of her voice even as she waited for the cunning reply of Saber, "No problem, Airen, I'll be sure and see to it no one messes with my wingman."

(Other than you, that is,) Akira thought to herself but tactfully refrained from voicing aloud. She decided to take some initiative and hang close by those wildcats on the off-chance they might need to be separated...a need guaranteed by the very nature of these contests.

According to her more conventional sensors there was "nothing" out there for her to monitor, but Akira knew better and was flying on instinct. She knew her fellow Gundam Pilots were converging on the testing range and could track them by their beacons, even while they remained relatively invisible to one another. Only a line-of-sight laser finder could register their movements, and so Akira flew a bit higher to give herself the advantage of altitude, knowing that in doing so she was leaving herself open to detection by the others.

She had little to fear at this point, however, since the main battle would be between Gold and Silver units. It was only after their fight was resolved that Akira's turn would come to pick a fight with the victor, a task she would normally have relished but for the particulars involved in this "trial by fire" contest.

Gundanium metal was peculiar in many respects, not least for its "stealth" properties, being radar-absorbing and non-reflective to a wide band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Gundam Armor was actually a Tri-Titanium compound with the rare element forming the crucial link in a geometric molecular binding that was considerably harder than diamond and infinitely more resilient than the tensile strength of high-carbide Tungsten steel. It could absorb incredible punishment without cracking or fragmenting and was utterly impervious to extremes of heat and cold, not even expanding with temperature changes, making it the hardest and strongest metal in the known Universe, despite being somewhat lighter and more flexible than more conventional industrial alloys. In its pure form it could only be harnessed in space and once cast into dye form it was nearly impossible to either damage or reshape it. Its ability to absorb vibrational energies was nothing less than astonishing, so it formed the perfect body armor for the new type of Medium-range Veritech fighter being tested on this range. The only problem came if an enemy knew the exact impact tolerances of Gundanium and could target their weapons to that frequency, and then enough energy could penetrate the armor to damage internal systems and disrupt ship operations from within.

Too bad there wasn't enough of the stuff to use for larger vessels, or to mass-  
produce the type of mobile assault craft that their wing was testing, but sitting inside the cockpit of a fighter surrounded in such metal was an oddly comfortable feeling...

Oddly comfortable, that is, unless the opponent facing you was similarly armored.

Akira spotted Trolla's fighter and saw it squaring off to face Urika's Silver Serpent, and from the way in which their respective veritechs shifted to robot mode it was a sure bet that they weren't going to merely exchange pleasantries before combat. This was a Challenge situation plain and simple, and though it was taking place outside of a dojo there was no doubt in her mind that the same rules would apply as in any other kind of rivalry.

In other words the rulebook was about to go out the window!

"So," Trolla began by way of opening verbal volley, "Are you really to settle this matter between us once and for all?"

"I was born ready, Sugar," Urika replied, "Your call."

"So be it," Trolla replied, "To the victor go the spoils, agreed?"

"Agreed," Urika responded, "If you wanna get closer to Akira you've got to first go through me, and you ain't woman enough for that, not by a longshot."

"We will see about that, Micronian harlot."

"In your eye, Green-hair!"

Akira felt the sudden urge to groan. Now just how had she seen this coming?  
The battle began without warning or preamble, Trolla unleashing her opening salvo at Urika, who dodged the energy beams and mini-rockets with great ease before returning fire with laser-cannons and solid projectile weapons. Trolla avoided this as though she were a phantom and came closing in on her opponent. Urika braced to meet this charge, her Veritech reaching up over its back and pulling out a hand-weapon of enormous size proportioned to the robot's dimensions. On seeing this, Akira did groan, then murmur to herself, "I wonder how she slipped that one past the Tech guys..."

And meanwhile-back at headquarters-it so happened that her own project director was pondering that very same question, even as Max heard and winced as he heard Admiral Hunter voice the question aloud, "What is that...some kind of giant ax or something?"

"Ah..." Rick was saying in reply to this, "Call me crazy...but that looks pretty much like a giant spatula to me..."

"Er...quite," even Miriam was now visibly sweating about it, exchanging troubled looks with her husband as each one silently wondered how the weapon had been loaded onto Unit 02 without anyone noticing during pre-flight inspection. The self-described "Iron Chef" had once again pulled another fast one!

"Uh...guys?" Dana nervously cautioned over ship-to-ship relays, "We're supposed to do this friendly-like, remember?"

"This is friendly, Sugar," Urika called back even as her unit whirled the huge-  
looking spatula over her head as though it were a helicopter blade, then savagely thrust it forward towards Trolla's unit, which dodged the attack and the other rapid-fire ones that followed.

"Now you're getting serious!" Trolla called back even as she triggered the lever on a device her unit drew from concealment, and seconds later she held a lance-  
like pole-arm with which to deflect her opponent's attacks.

"This is getting intense," Saber called out, "Wouldn't a Challenge Log be a more civilized way to settle this instead of using trillion-credit hardware, guys?"

"You're a fine one to talk," Trolla shot back, even as her unit struggled toe-  
to-toe until she and Urika's unit were squaring off together like to immense giants wrestling for an advantage. All at once both units unleashed a salvo point-blank of mini-rockets and ship-to-ship lasers, the net result of which was a massive explosion that engulfed both fighters.

"Holy-!" Akira exclaimed as her instruments flashed a reading on the intensity of those discharges, "This is supposed to be a test, guys! You're using live ammo!"

"Somebody must have armed their fighters with the real thing instead of the dummies!" Dana instantly called out.

"Gee," Saber noted dryly, "I wonder how that happened..."

Back at headquarters Max was covering his eyes and repressing the heartfelt groan as he considered the chewing-out that he was going to be delivering later in the day to whichever members of the flight crew had dropped the ball on this one! He had no doubt who was responsible for changing the settings on the ordinance from "Simulated" to real, but that a thing like this could slip past the Techs conducting the pre-flight inspection...

"Whoah," Rick was saying just then, "That was some explosion. I didn't know this was going to be a live-fire demonstration."

"I don't believe this..." Lisa murmured as the smoke parted, revealing both fighters still standing, "There's not a scratch on either Veritech..."

"Ah..." Miriam valiantly recovered from her own surprise after briefly considering what sort of punishment she was going to level on those two dueling hot-heads, "Well...that is the beauty of Gundanium...it can resist low-level explosive bursts which would tear apart an ordinary fighter. The armor could shrug off everything short of beam-cannon fire without damaging the pilot. The only problem would be if a lucky missile hit a joint or weak spot...otherwise..."

"Otherwise they take a licking and keep on ticking," Max finished for her, thinking to himself that he really needed a vacation from this assignment...

Meanwhile-unknown to anyone but themselves-Urika and Trolla were each wearing matching grins as they took stock of one another and readied to renew the encounter. SOON, each reasoned, soon they would resolve the issue of which of them was the better fighter, and subsequently the better companion to Akira! Trolla wanted her because their senior Lieutenant was the only other pilot good enough to consistently defeat the Zentradi in battle, even as Urika wanted to be even closer to her childhood friend turned possible amorata, having been clued on to the intensity of her feelings by the encroachment of another girl with similar such intentions, and all the while Akira bewildered at why she had become such a bone of contention between them.

Not that the both of them were any less resentful about Saber, the Chinese girl having proven herself to be something of a nuisance, but one rival at a time they both reasoned with nearly identical logic, determined to show their dashing fellow cadet the strength of their mutual ardor by a good-old-fashioned catfight!

"Why me?" Akira moaned for what had to be the thousandth time since beginning with this program, wondering just what she had done to arouse the sexual interests of both her best friend and a full-blooded Zentradi! With Saber she could mostly understand it being consistent with the traditions of her homeland, having lost early on in the program to Akira in battle, but why was it that she couldn't spark a similar such interest in Dana, who actually intrigued the young Saotome on certain levels?

Her grandfather had insisted that her father had days similar to this one, though Akira sorely doubted that her father's love-life had ever gotten this complicated!

Saber monitored the fight transpiring between her two greatest rivals with glee in her expression. Surely this would be the fight where she could prove to her Airen that she was the worthier suitor, once those two annoying harpies had sufficiently weakened themselves so that they would be ripe for the taking. Dana would be no competition, having never expressed an interest in Saber's one true beloved, and so the way would be cleared for Saber to dominate the day, and then she would take the fight to Akira and claim her through proper ritual combat. After all...her intended was the only one worthy of defeating her, and had the necessary equipment in both identities to fully satisfy an Amazon's need to be properly dominated.

If only her parents could be here to witness their daughter's triumph, but since their rather rude parting of the ways Saber had been non-communicado with either of her mothers. Only her revered great-great grandmother had even troubled to contact her of late, and that mainly to keep each other abreast as current events continued to proceed in central China. Saber had no intention of returning home unless it was as a seasoned warrior who had proved her mettle and won the hand of her Airen. Participating in this program had been a great way to hone her battle skills, even if it were against the unworthy likes of that so-called "Iron Chef" and the Zentradi.

Dana Stirling was troubled by these developments, though hardly surprised at the intensity with which Urika and Trolla went at it. What bothered her was that Akira was just sitting back and monitoring the whole thing instead of calling a halt to this personal antagonism, and being the source of the problem meant that their wing-leader and senior lieutenant had a peculiar obligation to once-and-  
for all bring an end to the matter. All Akira had to do was to make a decision and state her preference, choosing one contentious suitor out of the whole lot, but instead she seemed to waffle and become more indecisive as matters progressed to the point of near-fratricide, as if she either derived some secret pleasure out of the whole thing or simply did not have a clue as to how to choose one girl over another.

Dana was not sure which of three possibilities annoyed her the most, that Akira LIKED to be fought over, that it was a boost to her Saotome ego, or that she had never even once expressed an open interest in Dana herself. It was not the thought of being excluded that got on Dana's nerves sometimes, it was the whole notion that she might somehow be less attractive than the other girls and Saotome was just too polite to come right out and say it.

Of course Dana found herself thinking more and more about Akira these days, and about the reason why their Senior Lieutenant never took any cold showers. Having once been accidentally exposed to Akira's other half in the showers (that one time the Hot water had mysteriously gone on the fritz) it was hard not to think of their Wing Leader's...rather obvious endowments. It was hardly fair in Dana's eyes, realizing that as a woman, Akira was a well-stacked knockout, while in her other guise...well...HE had the most amazing...

"Look alive, Gold One," Akira's voice suddenly intruded into her reverie, doing nothing to relieve a sudden heat that caused Dana to adjust her collar, "Headquarters isn't paying you and Silver Two to just sit around and play tourist. Time to show the lab-boys what these new Veritechs are made of."

"Right," Dana shook her head to clear out the cobwebs, then sought out Saber through her visual ID sand and angled her fighter on an attack vector that would carry them both well away from the battle between those two insane sex-maniacs, Urika and Trolla!

"So far all systems read in the green, Sir," one of the monitors reported to his Commander, "All ships are performing within tolerances, though we've so far been unable to connect with the override relays. We can't change the settings back to the non-lethal ordinance."

"Terrific," Max replied, thinking to himself, (What else could go wrong?)

"A very realistic battle-test," Lisa was remarking, "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear those two were actually trying to kill one another."

"Somehow I think this goes well beyond hatred," Rick noted as he saw one fighter hammer away at the other with enough energy burst to scorch the paint off a main battle cruiser.

"Someone is going to be cleaning out the latrines from now until graduation" Miriam grumbled past clenched teeth.

"Sir!" another Monitor called out, "We have a warp signature! Something is phasing in on the testing range near to the location of the Gundam units!"

"What?" Lisa, Rick and Miriam all said at once while Max glared at the ceiling and growled, "I was being rhetorical, you know! You don't have to overdo it!"

"That's confirmed, Sir," reported another technician, "Something is warping in, but the signal doesn't seem large enough to be a ship of any known registry, in fact...what in the world?"

That sentiment was shared by everyone else in the Command Center, even as the four combatants broke off in their engagement to take notice of a pair of hovering figures, which visual monitors made out to be humanoids, and at least one of them was noticeably a woman!

"What the hell?" asked Akira, who was in the most favorable position to view the new arrivals in full detail, "Who are those two jokers, and where did they come from?"

"Unknown," Dana reported back as she and Saber circled these figures, "But I can tell you one things...neither one of them is wearing a power-pack or anti-  
gravity belt! I've got energy readings literally off the scale in both of them, but I don't make out what the source is...unless it's them, which I know sounds crazy..."

"It's crazy all right," Saber agreed, "Unfortunately my scanners are telling me the exact same thing as your own."

"Whoever they are," growled an annoyed sounding Trolla, "They're going to be sorry they interrupted my sport!"

"Yeah, and I was just about to cream you too," Urika duly noted.

Trolla's unit raised a free arm and turned the palm upward, then made a point of extending the middle finger in Urika's direction.

"In your dreams, Green-hair," Urika noted as she copied the same hand gesture.

"Excuse me for asking this," Rick noted back at headquarters, "But is this a new way for Officers to salute one another that I've never heard about?"

"Ah..." Max wilted slightly, then turned back to the monitors rather than be forced to address that question.

The figures hovering together suddenly broke apart and confronted one another, the one with long blue hair assuming an aggressive stance while the dark haired one in the orange martial arts gi just "stood" her ground (in a manner of speaking considering that they were both hovering in the air above the tree tops). No sound came from them at first, but then a technician corrected this and the monitors suddenly broke out with a, "...Mess around with my Grandma's lab, will you? Take this!"

All at once an intense blue-white light flared to life in the colorfully dressed girl's hands and with a swipe of the air she took a slice at her opponent, who ducked low in time, only to see a few stray hairs shaved away from her forelocks.

"HEY!" the dark haired one protested, "You could have hurt somebody with that thing!"

Just behind where the large dark haired woman (?) had been hovering the top part of a very tall tree proceeded to topple over, sliced cleanly through even though it was a good forty meters away from the hovering women.

"That was the idea, stupid!" the blue haired girl taunted as she lunged for the other woman, only to find her target side-stepped her thrust and had gripped her by her wrist for her troubles.

"I don't know what your beef is with me," the dark haired girl called out, just one second before bringing her knee up to intercept the blue haired girl in the gut, knocking her backwards for a good five meters, "But I know when somebody's trying to cause me trouble!"

The blue haired girl's energy sword faded out from view as she hugged her gut for several seconds, but then she straightened up again, shrugging off the blow and looking as mad as the proverbial wet hen as she balled her fists and said, "All right, you asked for this!"

The hovering girl began to concentrate, and all at once the air around her body began to resonate with an intense blue-white flame that rose around her as though she were the wick of a candle. With a cry of savage fury she spread her arms wide and caused the resonance to expand as what looked like miniature logs mysteriously appeared in the air all around her.

"Hah, two can play at that trick!" the dark haired girl replied, then balled her own fists and started concentrating.

"HOLY MOTHER OF MACEK!" Dana called out in dismay.

"What the hell...?" Saber confirmed, "Energy readings spiking through the roof! Don't ask me how, but those two are putting out enough juice to light up a small city!"

"Damned near lighting up everything else," Urika added.

"All units pull back and give those two some room!" Akira called out to her team, "At least until we have some idea of what we're dealing with!"

"Incredible," Trolla exclaimed as she stared in rapt fascination, "Such power contained by a human frame? Never have I dreamed that such a thing were possible..."

"Yeah, well dream it from about a hundred yards back, will you, Beautiful?" Akira snapped, then instantly wondered why she just given a compliment to the Zentradi, and what the others were going to say to her about that!

The two hovering women finished their powering-up maneuvers and came at one another as though drawn by opposing magnetic charges. What followed was a series of rapid-fire kicks, punches, blocks, spins, whirlwind counter-attacks and devastating jabs and combinations that flew by so fast that the normal human eye could have only seen a mere blur of motion. Akira did see these maneuvers, however, and was dismayed by a realization that the combat style was extremely familiar!

"I don't believe this!" she murmured into her throat-mike.

"Sugar," Urika said as she fell back into Akira's "wing" position, "Those look like your moves..."

"Aiyaa," Saber agreed as she and Trolla assumed their normal formation on Akira's left flank, "That is the Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu...I'd know it anywhere, Airen!"

"Anything Goes Martial Arts?" Dana repeated, "But I thought Akira-chan was the only practicing member of that school!"

"That's what I thought too," Trolla reported, "Only they're both using it, and apparently they are quite proficient."

"But that's crazy!" Akira herself protested, "The Old Man and I are the only ones...unless...unless that rat-fink was holding out on me! Maybe he taught somebody else some of our special combinations!"

"However they learned it, it's clear that they do seem to know what they are doing, Sugar," Urika remarked, "And Saotome school is the best form of combat system for shaking it up in mid-air. What I want to know is what's holding those two up if they're no tractor field to support them?"

Even as these words were being exchanged the two antagonists managed to land a few good blows on one another, delivered with pile-driver force that would have done considerable body damage had they not both been extraordinarily toughened to a level well beyond that of a normal human. Neither one seemed ready to slacken the pace after a full minute of fighting and-if anything-these two seemed indeed to be enjoying themselves in their battle royale, which was more than could be said for the more distant observers back at command central.

"What the heck kind of security are we running here?" Max demanded to know before either Lisa or Rick could question him on that subject, "How the devil did those two get here, and how in the blazes are they doing that?"

"We don't know, Sir!" the hapless technician being treated to this harangue visibly wilted, "We're doing all we can to monitor the situation, but we haven't a clue about what's going on here."

"Dear," Miriam spoke gently, "Ease up...we won't solve this mystery by shouting. We need more level headed thinking to ponder out this mystery."

"Right," Lisa agreed, "I'm sure your people will do everything in their power to provide us with some answers to that and several other important questions, Commander."

Max heard the implied "or else" subtext and swallowed, "Yes Ma'am."

"What I'd like to know is where those two came from," Rick remarked, "They don't appear to be Zentradi, but if they're some other alien race, then I can't place them, though they obviously do seem pretty human."

"Human if you discount the fact that they can fly and create energy swords from thin air, Sir," one Technician bolder than the rest spoke up, "We've definitely confirmed that they are humanoid life forms with biological anatomies and not robots per-se, but they seem to be able to draw vast amounts of life energy into their bodies and convert them to raw power. Something's different about the methods they each use to process this energy but there seems to be only a slight divergence from baseline human DNA sequencing. If they are aliens then they are of no type or racial classification that we've ever heard about."

"I wonder..." Miriam frowned, "Link up with the Zentradi central registry historical archives, I think we may have encountered something like at least one of these two girls in our travels."

"Already on it," the Technician acknowledged.

"While you're trying to settle who they are and how they can do what they're doing," Lisa spoke up, "Maybe we can also try and figure out what they are doing here and whether or not an enemy sent them to his location."

"It is a pretty large coincidence..." Rick looked thoughtful, then turned to Max and said, "Have your wing fire off a warning shot...see if they can break things up and maybe get a few answers."

"It's worth a try," Max replied, not bothering to add that he hoped doing this would not inadvertently anger these unlikely visitors to the point of taking hostile action.

"Fire a warning shot?" Akira repeated aloud, "Is the Commander serious?"

"We have our orders, Sugar," Urika replied, "And those two are intruding on a private party."

"All right," Akira sighed, "I just hope we do live to regret this..."

She aimed the target sensors for a narrow-beam volley that would pass harmlessly by the two combatants and hopefully not provoke them to turning their attention towards the hovering Gundams. Tracer beams keyed to be visible to normal human sight shot past the struggling duo and had the effect of causing them to divert their attention from one another as they turned instead to take notice of five rather large robots hanging in the air at only a couple of hundred meters distance.

"What the hell?" Ryeka growled, "Where the heck did they come from?"

"Don't look at me," Ayane replied, "Friends of yours?"

"Never saw 'em before in my life," Ryeka shrugged, "Think they want to play?"

"How rude," Ayane remarked, "Butting in on a private party...kinda remind me of some of Berka's toys. Wonder if they're as tough to demolish?"

"Might not be such a good idea," Ryeka reasoned, "They look like military combat suits, and you know how touchy the boys in uniform can get when you smash their hardware."

"Tell me about it," Ayane winced, "You think they want us to take this elsewhere."

"Hmm..." Ryeka turned her attention towards the ground beneath their feet and saw a familiar presence that had obviously followed them through her grandmother's portal. Smiling slyly she said, "I've got a better idea...why don't we raise the stakes a little? RYO-AKI!"

There was an answering cry as a tiny form leaped into the air and started changing, expanding in dimensions until it rose up from the treetops like a magnificent crystal sculpture, even larger than Gundam Wing combined as it emitted sounds rather like a housecat on steroids.

"What the...?" Ayane blinked as the ship rose up to hover just behind where they were floating.

"Meet my pet, Ryo-Aki," Ryeka grinned, "Now let's see if those guys want to start something!"

The verbal response of both the Gundam Wing and Central Headquarters was universally dismayed, but unknown to all these parties yet another group was watching from ground level, taking notice of both the odd spaceship and the giant robots confronting one another, to which one member of their merry little band said, "I don't believe it! That looks like Ryo-Oki!"

"Or maybe one of her close kin," Kachima duly noted to her purple-haired sister, "And that does look suspiciously like Ryeka hovering in the air next to the oddly barbaric-looking lady."

"Yeah," Mace agreed, "But who the heck are those guys making out like levitating Pat Labors?"

"Obviously we are in yet another world," Ganymede responded, "And I am given to suspect that there is some connection between us and those parties...perhaps even a link that binds us all to the cyborg pair that you are working upon, my almost-sister."

"Hey, I know all kinds of stuff about tech levels and junk," Kinko noted, "But those guys are definitely high-tech to the max! Military issue from the look of them, and if I had to guess I'd say they were a bit upset that somebody came along and crashed their party."

"A very astute deduction," Kachima replied, "And-if I do not miss my guess-  
this means we are due for yet another transfer."

"Huh?" Shanma asked, "You don't mean...AW-NOT AGAIN!" she exclaimed as she saw her party begin to grow transparent.

"WHATTHEHELL?" spoke one technician at Central, "We've got another warping signature, but different from the last time!"

"How different?" Max queried.

"It's an area-wide effect, Sir," the technician responded, "It's affecting everybody, including the Gundam Wing...we...we're losing a fix on them...data's all messed up...it's scrambled!"

They've vanished, Sir!" another technician reported.

"Vanished?" Lisa turned to regard the one who had spoken, then stared back at the monitors again and said, "How vanished?"

"Like into thin air, like they were nothing!" the one so addressed replied with a furious working of fingers across her console, "We can't trace Lieutenant Saotome's signal or any other member of her unit, and we can't get a make on those aliens either...it's like the were here one moment and then gone the next!"

"Almost like a giant hand reached out and snatched them away," Rick said with dismay clearly written on his expression, "But for what purpose?"

"That's what I want to know!" Miriam all but exploded, "That's our DAUGHTER out there with the others! Who dares to kidnap a Zentradi woman? I'll have their heads for this...!"

"Ah...dear," Max spoke calmly, "I'm a little freaked out about this too, but let's try and keep it together, okay? For Dana, not to mention the rest of our wing?"

"Yes...quite right," Miriam seethed, but you could see the blood in her eyes, and suddenly Rick was very glad that he had never had to face a Zentradi who ever wore that furious an expression.

Max was grateful too that his wife's early military training came to the fore during such a crisis. Miriam was the first of her race to discover the joys of a family life, and like any recent convert she had turned into something of a fanatic. They had spoiled their daughter growing up, but in spite of this Dana had turned out to be a pretty fine kid, if a tad bit impulsive. He had to have faith in her ability to survive in any situation, to do otherwise would have driven him mad with worry, but the reassuring thing was that she wasn't alone and that she was under the capable command of the talented Lieutenant Saotome Akira.

He just wondered what it was about that last thought that made him feel a different kind of worry, then brushed it off as nerves. He had to be the cool one in charge of this crisis or Lisa was likely to take command away and usurp it for herself. He liked and respected her as both a friend and a commanding officer and knew that she would do so with the best interests of all concerned at heart, but he knew he had to be the one who stood watch on this particular mission, just as Lisa had stood watch many times on behalf of himself and Rick. Dana was a little trooper, after all, combining the best that was human and Zentradi in one package. No matter what happened she would return safe and sound (preferably with her Gundam intact, but hey-beggars couldn't be too choosy, and a small sacrifice would be worth the safe return of his daughter).

"Got it, Sir!" one of the technicians called out, "Zentradi Archive #32745-901, system Alpha, the Planet Vegita, we have a DNA match for a race encountered there called the Saiyajin."

"Saiyajin?" Miriam visibly paled, "Are you sure?"

"Positive," the technician replied, "And we're pretty much close to certain that the other reading is a match for a race called the Juraians."

"Juraians," Miriam repeated, "Why does it always have to be the Juraians...?"

"Excuse me?" Rick said, "What do you mean by that, Commander?"

"Sir," Miriam said pointedly, "The Saiyajin were a race of barbarians who resisted the Zentradi advance roughly a terrestrial century ago and they had to be exterminated, their planet wiped out with all inhabitants. A few Saiyajin escaped to become wanderers throughout the galaxy, but by now they must all be extinct..."

"What did they do to tick you people off so much?" Max wondered.

"It wasn't so much what they did as what they might have become," Miriam replied, "Saiyajin could tap into and harness powerful energy fields...very similar to what we just recorded. A single Saiyajin warrior is stronger than an army and very hard to kill. We recorded many encounters in which a large, heavily armored group of Zentradi were wiped out to a man by those monsters, and you can imagine how we took being kicked around by a bunch of long-tailed Micronians..."

"Tails?" Lisa repeated.

"A long story," Miriam replied, "They were savage and aggressive to an extent that even shocked our people, and when the decision came down to dispatch the fleet to destroy their homeworld it was with the express provision that no direct contact be made prior to launching our assault. We were to hit them without warning and give them no chance to retaliate, and even so we lost a good number of ships during that encounter."

"Whoah," Rich said, very much impressed, "And the Jurai?"

"One of the few races we voluntarily elected to leave alone," Miriam replied, "Their Emperor signed a treaty with Chancellor Dolma and we've tended to avoid one another ever since. I believe that the Earth system was once claimed by their Empire, but they long since abandoned it as too remote to hold much interest."

"Maybe they're worth getting in touch with now," Max noted, "Heaven knows we could use more friendly allies."

"Friendly?" Lisa quirked an eyebrow, "That's an odd way of phrasing it considering that one of their race may have just made off with your daughter."

"Er...well..." Max remarked, then added, "A good point that..."

"Well, let's not jump to any conclusions just yet, okay?" Rick cautioned, "Let's just concentrate on trying to get back our people."

"That should be our first priority," Miriam said with a smacking of fist-to-palm to match her dour expression, "But if I find out that the Jurai were behind this...there's going to be a diplomatic incident, I assure you!"

No one doubted the resolve in those words, but neither did anyone have a clue as to what was behind these disappearances or what they portended in the larger scheme of things. A power capable of capturing a full wing of state-of-the-art Veritechs was not like a usual suspect who could be arrested and charged with the kidnapping of military personnel. Of a certainty whoever could do that was a whole order of magnitude more dangerous than anything they had previously encountered, and all the firepower in the combined Earth and Zentradi fleets could not prevail should this power be turned to hostile intentions.

But pitted against the fire he saw in his wife's eyes, Max would not put his money in favor of the bad guys...!

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Zentradi Raffle Tickets: shadowmane

Now what, you ask, would anyone want with a bunch of giant robots and their crazy Gundam pilots? (Hey, don't ask me, ask the Cartoon Network!) Needless to say a new group has been recruited for the odyssey, so will they cooperate and work together, or will the rules for first encounters between superheroes hold sway? (Okay, so that was a trick question...) Stay tuned for "Viking Batmitzvah," or "Gonna Party like it's 2999.95!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	12. Chapter 12

RanCubed11

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

WARNING! HENTAI ALERT!  
CONTAINS SCENES INVOLVING TEENAGERS WITHOUT CLOTHING IN SUGGESTIVELY SENSUAL AND SEXUALLY IMPLICIT SITUATIONS!

(FORTUNATELY, BEING IMAGINARY THE SUPREME COURT HAS RULED THAT SUCH IMAGERY IS PROTECTED UNDER THE CONSTITUTION. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)

Chapter Eleven.

Anatomy Lessons

Continuum # 62491378

Roll Call:

Wanda Kenshiro -Daughter of Alia and Ranma, Fist of the Northstar Ryoma Saotome -Son/Daughter of Ukyo and Ranma Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Inaho and Mosquiton the Vampire Efreet Mitsuhara -Adopted daughter of Ifurita and Makoto, Demon-Goddess Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Shampoo and Konatsu, Apprenticed Mage/Wicca Tachi Kuno -Son of Nabiki and Tatewaki, Nampo Master Minos Taro -Son of Kasumi and Pantsaru, Shotokan Master

"Ah...that feels good!" Ryoma sighed as she eased herself into the water, "May not be a hot back like I'd want, but then I guess beggars can't always be too choosy."

"Ah..." Carmine hung back by the banks, watching the boy-turned-girl wading out into the lake with a certain perverse fascination, unable to help admiring the sleek and handsome profile of Ryoma's lean and well-curved body. If anything she felt a stab of envy at Ryoma's...endowment, which were larger than Carmine's (though not quite as large as those of her co-mother, Camilla) and nicely shaped with pointy little nipples projecting out from walnut-sized areolas.

"Gonna come in and get wet?" Ryoma casually asked with a glance in Carmine's direction, "Feels pretty nice and I never pass up a chance to clean myself off before I get too hot and sweaty."

"Er..." Carmine wondered if that phrase was as innocent as it sounded, but hovered back for different reasons, "Aren't you...well...?" she hesitated, feeling oddly shy for some reason.

"You mean because I'm a guy?" Ryoma shrugged, "Not at the minute, so you don't have to worry that I'll try anything weird or perverted on you...at least the guy-girl stuff, and I'm too much of a gentleman to do it with anybody who doesn't wanna."

"Oh?" Carmine found it odd to hear a girl describe herself as a "gentleman," but was willing to let the point go as something else intrigued her infinitely more than this, "And...have you ever done it before...with a girl, that is?"

"Huh?" Ryoma turned around to fully look in Carmine's direction and asked, "You mean...done it?"

"Yeah," Carmine hesitated again before saying, "As...either a guy...or a girl?"

"Ah...well..." Ryoma hesitated when all at once she lurched to her feet with a startled, "OOOH!"

"Huh?" Carmine blinked her eyes, seeing the water foam and rise up behind the startled Ryoma and congeal into a human shape, rather like Yuki and Hona, her father's Elemental servants.

Only the form that solidified before her eyes was no elemental but rather the very much human shape of a naked Kenzan Tarot!

"Yes, Ryo-chan," she cooed as her slender hands went around Ryoma's body to cup her breasts in a very distinctively possessive manner, "Why don't you enlighten our new friend here on your extensive and rather substantial experience with members of the female persuasion...or do you wish to count the boys you have seduced as well in the mixture?"

"Tarot!" Ryoma protested as she tried to work free from the other girl's grip, only to find Tarot was holding on and easily moved to counter her best efforts, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I should think that would be obvious," Tarot cooed, "I'm laying my cards out on the table...how much more explicit do I have to get to make my interest plain to you? Or do you really consider me as nothing more than your sister?"

"Ah..." Ryoma winced, "You overheard that, huh?"

"Ears like a cat, remember?" Tarot smiled meaningfully, then allowed her hands to play with Ryoma's nipples, "Tell me...would a sister be willing to do this for her brother?"

"Ah..." Ryoma's expression registered both surprise and a pleasurable reaction that conflicted with her desire for protest.

"HEY!" Carmine reacted, "What the hell are you doing with her? Get your hands off this-!"

"Or what?" Tarot asked with a sly smile, "Get your feet wet? You can't even bring yourself to take your clothes off in Ryo-chan's presence. I can see why you find her so attractive, though...she is a rather charming...creature..."

"Why you-!" Carmine launched herself at the pair, but rather than splash in the water she floated in the air, only to find that she missed her target and came to a halt no closer to where Tarot and Ryoma were located. Whirling about in mid-air, she confronted the smirking Tarot and growled, "You let her go right now!"

"Or else?" Tarot replied, "There is an 'or else' implied in your statement, correct?"

Carmine balled her fists and said, "I'm warning you...don't push me!"

"Oh yes," Tarot cooed, "I'm quite certain that you re formidable when crossed, but you shouldn't underestimate my powers as well. I am well aware that you possess a hybrid nature and are far more than you appear to be, and that's not even counting your faithful bodyguard, who is presently engaged elsewhere."

"Tarot...why are you..." Ryoma struggled within the other girl's grasp.

"I am making a point, so quiet down, Ryo-chan," Tarot replied, "Or else if you wish to fight your way free, be mindful that this is not some harmless practice session, and you know what will happen if you should defeat me."

"Hah?" Ryoma's eyes got very round, "You wouldn't...!"

"I might," Tarot replied, "Depending on how much you provoke me to do it. I am very serious about my feelings for you, Ryo-chan, even if you have ignored me of late and come to take my feelings for granted. Since Ivory isn't here to stake her petition, I'm taking full advantage of her absence, before you get yourself committed to yet another potential suitor."

"HUH?" it was Carmine's turn to react with surprise at the boldness of that statement.

"Suitor...?" Ryoma sounded more nervous than ever.

"Don't play dumb with me, Lover," Tarot played her hands against Ryoma's unresisting (but VERY responsive) body, "From the moment you two met you've been exchanging significant looks and little personal gestures that makes it very plain to me that you share an interest in one another. Tell me...is it because she's new in town and thus a mystery that has you hooked, and why is it I've been unable to spark a similar such interest in you? Is it because you really do think of me as nothing more than just your sister?"

"Ah..." Ryoma found her efforts at struggling with her tormentor were growing more and more confused as struggling just seemed to make the situation worse...in a manner of speaking!

"Why you-cut it out!" Carmine protested, "Ryoma, are you just gonna let her get away with this?"

"Ryoma knows the situation far better than you think, my dear," Tarot replied as she nuzzled the other girl's neckline with her cheek, "To resist me now would be a form of a challenge, and there is a rule about Amazons that goes 'To the Victor the Spoils,' which would be me in case you are in any doubt about such matters."

"How's that again?" Carmine asked in confusion as she hovered just above the level of the water.

"Whosoever defeats an Amazon in battle, be they female, then the Amazon has two options, revenge or marriage," Tarot explained, "That's how my parents got together after all...my father defeated my mother in battle, and in return my mother presented my father with the Kiss of Life, which is the seal of marriage. The revenge option was a face-saving gesture adopted by my more barbaric ancestors as a way of insuring that an Amazon would try her level best not to be taken too easy. Total commitment in battle was the Amazon way, in both love and war this rule holds certain."

"But that's crazy!" Carmine protested, "You can't just marry her because she's a better fighter!"

"Can't I?" Tarot chuckled softly, "Ryoma is the strongest fighter of our generation, bar none, and as such she could easily defeat me in battle, even though I am not a warrior by trade. I can fight as well as any other woman in Nerima and I'm not limited solely to the use of spells to win my battles. My father, you see, added his Ninja skills to the lore taught to me by my mother, and while Mom and I don't always see eye-to-eye about certain things, we both know that we want someone who is strong and caring to share our lives with...and there was even a time when my mother pursued Ryoma's father with the same intentions. Our families have been close friends for years...but I rather doubt that our parents would mind if our families became even closer."

"But...this isn't the way..." Ryoma gasped.

"That I know," Tarot said with clear regret, "I would rather you came to me of your own free will, but I could well live to be an old maid before you got around to pursuing me the way I've been chasing you around. Bad enough those other girls who also want to be your one-and-only amorata, and the way you lead all of us on giving no hint to your real preferences. I could even take some amusement in the number of boys who drool over you when you're like this...but obviously I have no problem with you being in either of your genders. You know that with me you would be in very good hands...unlike some girls I could mention."

"Like who do you have in mind?" Carmine asked suspiciously.

"You wouldn't know them," Tarot smiled, "For which you are envied by the both of us. Ivory I can tolerate, but some of those other girls..." she rolled her eyes towards the heavens.

"Ah...Tarot-chan..." Ryoma started to squirm as her captor's hands moved ever lower beneath the water.

"Don't chan me," Tarot murmured ominously, "Unless you really mean it."

"Would you stop doing that!" Carmine started to float closer to the naked couple, "You've made your point...whatever the heck it is!"

"Why don't you cool off, Dear?" Tarot smiled, removing one hand from Ryoma's body to make a quick gesture in the levitating girl's direction.

"Huh?" Carmine blinked her eyes as she felt a tingling all around her body, followed by a peculiar draft, then she glanced down at her body and went, "GAAAAKKK!" as she hastily covered her now-naked body.

Tarot made another gesture and suddenly Carmine dropped like a stone into the water. A third gesture with her hand and Carmine's clothing reappeared along the bank of the lake, alongside her own clothing and that of the much-surprised Ryoma.

"HAH?" Ryoma gaped at the brief showcasing of Carmine's nude body, but now the redhead rose up from the water like the proverbial wet hen, glaring murderously in Tarot's direction, "Uh oh..."

"YOU-BITCH!" Carmine spat out water.

"Isn't she Kawaii, Ryo-dear?" Tarot remarked, "She looks so cute when she gets angry..."

"You'll pay for doing that, Witch!" Carmine moved so rapidly that she splashed water in all directions, but the fist she aimed at Tarot's face found empty air as she stumbled right through a water-based illusion.

"I warned you not to underestimate my powers," Tarot cautioned, "And yours are obviously weakened in the presence of moving water..."

Carmine got ahold of herself and realized that she was being played for a sap, so instead of uttering another invective she closed her eyes and allowed her other senses to rise to the surface. The presence of heat far above that of the water, coupled with the sounds of two beating hearts, drew her around so that she could better aim her next punch with greater accuracy this time...

Unfortunately when she opened her eyes the face she saw making contact with her fist belonged not to Tarot but to Ryoma.

"OOPS!" Carmine exclaimed with rounded eyes as she saw the hapless Ryoma slowly slide into the water, stunned to semi-consciousness.

"Ryo-chan?" Tarot stared down as she held a now nerveless pig-tailed girl in her arms, then she glared at Carmine and said, "You may have figured that one out but your aim could stand a bit of improvement."

Carmine's anger reasserted itself and she snarled, "It's your fault, you used her as a shield!"

"Oh please," Tarot sniffed, "As if I would let Ryo-chan suffer abuse on my behalf! I'm more than capable of fighting my own battles," she snapped her fingers and the water boiled up around Ryoma, floating up under her body so that the semi-conscious chef was comfortably supported as though laying atop an air cushion.

"Now," the Mage said with more seriousness in her tone and expression, "Shall we be completely open here, or do you want me to tell you what I have been able to discern about you from careful observation?"  
"Yeah?" Carmine bared her fangs, "So...what have you figured out...girlfriend?"

"That you have a very passionate and...bloodthirsty nature," Tarot's eyes gleamed, "And that there is a risk involved if Ryo-chan should take up with one of your heritage..."

"You wanna see how risky it can be to cross me?" Carmine challenged.

"Nothing would please me greater," Tarot replied, "Shall we get down to it...?"

Meanwhile, while things were heating up around Ryoma, Tachi was recovering consciousness in a somewhat more comfortable state, feeling cool water surrounding his body as a pair of soft arms were supporting him, and as he lazily opened his eyes he found himself staring up through the generous valley of a pair of well-shaped breasts, up to an alluring face that stared down at him with some concern and asked in a pleasant voice of inquiry, "Are you feeling better now? Would you like me to give you a backrub?"

"Hmm...?" Tachi asked in a dreamy voice...about three heartbeats before coming to full alert as he recognized Efreet, the self-described android, as the lovely lady currently drifting into his fantasies.

He sat up with an abrupt, "GAK!" as he belatedly realized that the lady holding him close to her person was entirely naked and looked all too uncomfortably human!

"Are you all right?" Efreet asked, "Did I startle you? I'm sorry, but the water looked so fine and I just had to take a bath, so I didn't think you would mind..."

"Mind?" Tachi squeaked before getting ahold of himself so that he could cough and pretend to clear his voice, then saying, "Er...I don't mind...why would I mind? I surely couldn't mind a beautiful lady like yourself...ah...are those real?" he could not help staring down at her chest level.

"Oh sure," Efreet replied, "Just as real as the rest of me. Do you want to feel them?"

"Huh?" Tachi was certain his brain would short circuit if she kept asking him those kinds of questions.

"Here," Efreet took both of his hands in her own and guided his hands to her breasts, actually encouraging him to cup them! "See? Bet they feel just the same as Carmine's."

"Ah..." Tachi found his hands moving automatically to gently fondle the girl before him, testing the consistency of her bosoms as though they were ripe fruit freshly picked and ready to be sampled!

"Oh...that feels so nice!" Efreet smiled approvingly, "You have good hands, I like the way they move..."

"You...you can feel sensations?" Tachi was honestly surprised at this.

"I have a sensory neural web incorporated into my skin," Efreet replied, "I can sense pressure, temperature and even something like your pain receptors, which can tell me if I've been damaged. I don't know how close to a human woman my senses might be, but for me it's the way I perceive the world on a tactile level, and I can tell when someone is touching me in a way I approve. You've got hands like an artist, and I like the way you move them."

"Er...thank you," Tachi wondered if the situation would have seemed as surreal to someone else as it was for him, and yet he could not deny that he was deriving genuine pleasure from being allowed to handle the girl before him.

"I'll bet you think I'm kind of weird...being artificial and all that," Efreet noted, "I wanted you to know that I'm real enough that you don't have to be afraid of me."

"Afraid of you?" Tachi repeated.

"Sure," Efreet glanced away, "Lots of people are...and not just on Earth either. Back on El Hazard, the world where I was born, people fear Demon-Gods and call us monsters. They remember how Mom did some...pretty bad stuff before Dad freed her from being controlled. That's why we don't live in El Hazard, though it's a pretty nice place if you ever want to visit."

"I'm not afraid of you," Tachi continued to caress Efreet, studying her expression closely the way he would do with a fully human woman, "Should I be?"

"Guess that all depends," Efreet heaved a very human sigh, "I was created to be a weapon, I've got powers that make me potentially pretty dangerous to be around. I can't even pretend to be human, like Carmine, though sometimes...I kinda wonder what it would be like to be normal."

"Highly overrated," Tachi replied, "You can take my word on that."

"I guess," Efreet turned back to regard the handsome boy before her, who met her eyes without flinching, "No sense wishing for what you can never have, huh?"

"I wouldn't exactly put it that way," Tachi replied, "But...I kind of like the way you are...I don't think I'd ever want to change you."

"Really?" Efreet moved closer to the boy, even as Tachi slid his hands around her hips and drew her closer to him, their eyes still locked as she looked on him in wonder.

Tachi felt the urge to kiss the girl before him growing stronger, if only to discern if her kiss would feel as real as the rest of her to the touch...but as he was about to do so a loud explosion called his attention away to another part of the lake where they saw a geyser of water jetting upward.

"What was that?" Efreet asked.

"At a guess," Tachi sighed, "I'd say it revolved around Ryo. I think we had better go look, just in case."

"Oh," Efreet blinked, "Then Carmine might be involved...yeah, definitely let's check this thing out!"

And-in yet another part of the lake, a much larger boy by the name of Minos was recovering his wits. (For the sake of his peace of mind, it was a good thing that Ryoma wasn't around to say he did not have that many to collect) Of course the thing that made him semi-aware that he was not alone came with the sense of the warmth of the sun playing down upon his denuded body...

Denuded body?

Minos sat upright with a start and found to his dismay that his clothing had been removed and neatly folded to one side. He was as naked as the proverbial blue jay with no sense at all as to how he had arrived in this condition. A quick glance around revealed that he was laying next to a lake with several irregular features along the shoreline providing him with relative privacy, to which he sighed in gratitude as it would have been too much for his nerves to find himself exposed in front of the other girls...especially Ryoma!

The thought of Ryoma's female form flitted briefly through his mind and caused a peculiar reaction that made Minos glance down at his male member, all to aware that it had begun to stiffen like the traitorous thing that it was. He hastily did his best to cover it with both of his large hands but the erection was now in full force as thoughts of Ryoma-chan in a bikini awoke to the surface, revealing the real cause for why he had been so angry and resentful of late around his former best friend, a dark little secret that he would killed to prevent becoming public knowledge.

Well...that and the fact that Ryoma was hanging around with Belldandy an awful lot of late, and considering the Boy-Girl's way with women it was not hard to construe less than honorable intentions in the relationship. When Minos had heard the rumors about Ryoma and Belldandy, and saw a look in his younger sister's eyes that implied a certain...fondness...it brought home how much Minos had been feeling the same way about his "best buddy," especially after Ryoma's female half started growing a pair of sizeable breasts on her chest. Added to this was the fact that Minos had always been irritated by Ryoma's cocky, "I can do anything and I'm better than you" attitude and the natural instinct for competitiveness that they had shared for all the years when they had trained and fought together...well...

"No way!" Minos hissed to himself, "I ain't Yaoi! I ain't gonna do it with no guy, even if he is part girl and has all the right equipment! Let that Tachi bugger her if he thinks he's such a gift to the ladies..."

All at once a head broke the surface of the water, and like a vision rising up before his eyes a very large womanly body stood up before him, waist-deep in the water and entirely naked. Her long white hair was plastered to her perfectly proportioned body that boasted a pair of massive breasts the size of basketballs, which oddly seemed petite on her large frame...

Minos swallowed, and in spite of himself he felt his manhood hardened up like a rod of iron as he gazed upon the woman who had so recently captivated his fancy.

"Ah...you are awake," Wanda said cheerfully, "I sensed you stirring fitfully even while I lay submerged under the water."

"Hah?" was the most intelligible thing that Minos could think to say under the circumstances.

"I am glad to see that you are well," Wanda said sincerely, "This experience of total body immersion is quite...fascinating...and I would like to share it with you, if you have no objections?"

It was a testament to his fortitude that Minos did not faint dead away right there and then and return to his dreamland, which formerly had been darkly hidden and consisted of Ryoma-chan in chains meekly bidding him to play with her pussy...

One gulp that nearly caused him to swallow his own Adam's Apple later, Minos cleared his throat and said, "Ah...you...don't mind? I mean...you're naked..."

"So you've noticed," Wanda seemed rather pleased on that subject, "I have no objections, else I would not have made the offer."

"Right," Minos looked around for a big rock to clonk himself on the head with. What in the name of the Kami was he thinking asking a question like that...and from such an Uber-Babe as this silver haired goddess? He savagely told himself not to be nervous, that he was a Taro and thus should be as fearless as his father, who never shirked from any challenge (unless, of course, it meant having to later apologize to his mother...). He forced himself to look directly at the vision of female perfection before him and bowed his head with great formality, saying, "It would be both my pleasure and my honor, Shiro-san."

"You don't have to be formal with me," Wanda said in pleasant amusement, "Just Wanda will do, unless you want me to call you Taro-san?"

"Ah..." Minos replied, "Then...call me Minos."

"Minos-san," Wanda indicated the water, "Come on in...the water is cool and fresh like I've heard stories about in the days when frozen water fell from the sky and painted the mountains in ice. I've often heard myself compared to such a mountain and have been curious to see them sometime in my travels, and perhaps if normal rain returns to my world then one day I shall, do you think?"

"I hope so," Minos said fervently, unable to help admiring the totally unselfconscious way that Wanda carried herself, as if being naked were a natural thing for her and no great cause for modesty or aloofness. He was totally intimidated and captivated by her beauty, but not so far gone under her spell that he failed to think through the reason why she was no doubt this unworried by her exposure.

After all, if you could make a guy's head explode with a single punch, there were not that many guys who could force their way upon her, let alone make her feel as overwhelmed as he was to be basking in the glory of her presence.

Unbeknownst to him, however, Wanda was studying him with no less fascination than his regard for her. Minos was certainly a most...interesting specimen of the male of the human species, and Wanda had never really had the chance to look upon a boy this near to her own age without seeing him run in terror or turn out to be a predatory monster. Those men whom she had seen naked growing up with the ones overcome in battle, either dead or paralyzed by her Uncle Kenshiro in order to provide her with a proper working knowledge of human anatomy, and sometime later to practice what she knew using their Ryu. Those men so designated to die had been scum of the earth true and proper, murderous dogs without an ounce of sympathy or pity for anything else but their own needs. Delivering The Fist had been an act of justice every time, and Wanda had always made certain never to use her powers on anyone whom she had not judged as deserving execution.

To be certain, their art was a gruesome one, the Fist being such an intensive mastery of mind and body that to deliver it to a foe was to effectively condemn them to a horrible and gruesome death. It had taken her years to control her own natural revulsion at the sight of a human head exploding, but she had seen far worse punishments inflicted by the raiders to innocent persons and had, in time, come to view the act as quick, clean, efficient and even merciful...after a fashion.

But this boy was unlike any of those cowards who preyed like parasites upon the dwindling survivors and dregs of humanity struggling to survive on a dying planet. This boy had life and a heart that could know love and compassion. He was rough-hewn in many ways, like an uncut stone, yet bold and determined to persevere in spite of any odds placed against him. He fascinated her from the moment of their first meeting and was not only intrigued by his large size and apparent maturity but also for the clean definition of his frame, the lanky musculature of his powerful frame, and the handsome face that only hardened a bit from his years of warrior training. True he did not compare exactly with Kenshiro himself, but for a younger man he showed much in the way of promise!

And then there was the way his male anatomy had gone hard at the sight of her that pleased her greatly. She wanted him to be hard in her presence, to be strong and substantial to her touch, not fragile and easily broken like the many more common people whom she had met in her years of travel...

Minos finally worked up the nerve to hesitantly dip one foot into the water, and then he started to wade out to where Wanda awaited him, puzzled at the odd regard she seemed to be paying him as he eased himself closer to where she was standing. All his life he had dreamed about meeting a girl such as this, one who would not shun or avoid him or even hurt his feelings by playing on his affections, then pulling away at the last second. True he had not exactly expected to meet a girl who was a full head TALLER than himself, but...then again, such a woman was not exactly what he would have thought of as being within the realm of possibilities. It made him a bit giddy to see her smiling as he approached her, then paused as he met her gaze and gazed up into those eyes...

Eyes like Ryoma's...the eyes of a Saotome!

Somehow even that did not shake him out of his bedazzled state, and then he paused while only a little bit away from her, water splashing about his chest as he searched to find words that would not make him sound too dorky. This wasn't the sort of girl, after all, that you would ask something dumb like, "Do you live around here...and what's your sign?"

"Ah..." he began to say, "I...want to..."

Wanda said no such similar words as she reached out to him and drew him into her embrace. Minos was stunned beyond imagination to find himself gathered into those surprisingly soft arms and pressed up against a chest that was as firm and round as a pair of balloon-like cushions, but when Wanda brought her mouth down to his it was like his mind went blank and his body turned rigid...and then the kiss happened and something else went twice as rigid and stayed that way against any inhibiting powers that might have been instilled by the cool, clean waters.

Which, of course, was exactly what Wanda had desired from him in the first place!

Back at another part of the lake, Tachi and Efreet rounded a corner and found Carmine and Tarot confronting one another with hands clasped together above the level of the water, the two seeming to exert great force in an effort to overpower one another. A short distance away a semi-conscious Ryoma was floating on what looked like a foam bed composed entirely of bubbles and clearly was not in any state to issue protest. Carmine's eyes were crimson and Tarot's own eyes were actually glowing as they each fought tenaciously to seek an advantage. All around them the field created by their contesting battle auras was churning up the water as though they both were surrounded by a forcefield that alternated red and blue in a strangely mesmerizing pattern.

"I'd better break things up," Efreet said as she started to levitate, only to find a hand gripped her by one ankle.

"Wait up a minute," Tachi urged, then became very conscious of the shapely leg that he was gripping and swallowed, "You don't want to rush in there just yet, believe me! Your friend seems to be holding her own against Tarot...which either says a lot in her favor or Tarot's just playing with her, in either case messing with them now would mean trouble. Besides...you don't have your key-  
staff with you."

"Oh," Efreet glanced back to where she had left their clothing and judged the time it would take to retrieve it, then settled back into the water, "Sorry...guess I get carried away whenever I see anybody mixing it up with Carmine."

"Is this friendship...or something else?" Tachi wondered, "You say that you consider her your Master..."

"That's right," Efreet replied, "She's been the nearest thing to being my Master since she first wound me up a few years back, and we've been through a lot together. Of course you could be my Master too, if you like, I wouldn't mind having two masters..."

"Ah..." Tachi blinked as his hand automatically went around the girl's waist, only to encounter that area on the small of her back where he had earlier found her key-hole, which prompted him to ask, "Er...Efreet-san?"

"Yes?"

"Ah...about this..." he felt the plastic covering over the plug with his fingers, "Are you...water proofed? I mean...you won't short out or rust down there...will you?"

"Huh?" she replied innocently, then grinned, "You're so silly! Of course I won't rust...all the important electrical components are well insulated, and the rest of me is Neural-organic synthetic tissue. There's nothing to rust, I'm not made that cheaply. The guys who built me in the time of the ancients pretty much knew what they were doing, so it's not like they'd overlook a thing like that."

"Ah...of course...pardon me for asking," Tachi sheepishly amended.

"I don't mind," Efreet grinned, "You're the first guy besides Carmine who I can talk with openly about this stuff. Usually I have to hide the fact that I'm artificially made...my parents seem to think it has something with the government, or those Men in Black guys. It's not like I was originally programmed to lie about my being a Demon Goddess, and it's such a relief to be able to talk this freely..."

"Ah..." Tachi decided to home in on the question that rose up in his mind at her matter-of-fact explanation, "Did you say...organic?"

"Well...most of me duplicates human anatomy down almost to a cellular level," Efreet replied, taking his other hand and bringing it up to her breast, "You see how real these feel? It ain't silicone, let me tell you...!"

Tachi became all too aware that a certain portion of his own anatomy was very much registering the fact that it was responsive AND organic! Good thing the water obscured that particular detail or he would have been forced to have to explain certain things to the na ve young girl who was driving him to distraction...ah...make that the na ve young ANDROID girl...and more and more it was becoming hard to convince himself that she was in any way artificial!

Just then the intensity of the battle auras surrounding the two other girls went up by several magnitudes, then exploded suddenly in a wave-like discharge that swept the lake in all directions.

Of course one effect of this discharge was to dissipate Ryoma's foam bed and cause the girl to sink back into the water. An instant later Ryoma broke the surface again and sputtered, now fully awake once again as she turned to see a sight that took her breath away...in more than one sense of the matter!

Carmine had apparently gotten the better of the wrestling match and had Tarot pinned in her arms and struggling weakly to overcome her grip. Tarot clearly did not have the leverage or the strength to break free of the steely arms of the redheaded Vampyr, but oddly she did not seem to be trying hard as she squirmed her body in the embrace of her opponent. Instead she did a very odd thing indeed, deliberately turning herself and tilting her head back as if to offer her throat for Carmine's inspection.

"Well?" Tarot asked as she slyly regarded her opponent with a coy look in her eyes, her neck exposed and vulnerable as she said, "What are you waiting for? Go ahead and finish me. I can sense how much you want to."

Carmine did not speak words in reply, but the savage look in her face seemed to convey a mask of curiosity and inner struggle.

"I won't object if you wish to claim the prize here," Tarot continued in a sensual purr, "I know you can feel the blood coursing through my veins...you want to, don't you? I can sense that part of you is rising boldly to the surface."

Carmine seemed to pull back a little, but then the inhuman blood lust in her eyes stopped her from withdrawing her face and instead she seemed to be considering the offer.

"I won't resist," Tarot continued, "Do what you like with me...you have the right by spoils of battle. Give me your kiss if you believe it will assuage your hunger."

"Tarot-chan?" Ryoma wondered what the heck was going on here, but then her eyes got very wide as Carmine opened her mouth wide and showed off a wicked looking pair of fangs that would have brought shame to a Hibiki!

"Oh no!" Efreet murmured, "It's started! I have to put a stop to this!"

This time Tachi did not even try to halt her flight as the Demon-Goddess launched herself out of the water and began sailing towards her friend and Tarot, but much too late to prevent what she knew was about to happen.

Carmine's mouth closed over Tarot's neck and she bit down with instinctual hunger. Tarot gasped at the sharp pain but then seemed to relax and yield into that bite, feeling the warm, rich fluid begin to flow from her into the hungry Vampyr, a warm languor beginning to settle in all around her as a wave of pleasure replaced the pain of being bitten...

And then Efreet arrived, just moments ahead of a stunned Ryoma, who was trying to separate the two girls right before the finger of the Android touched the back of Carmine's neck and caused her body to stiffen. With hardly a sound Carmine let go of Tarot and fell back into the water, eased by Efreet's hands as her friend came to rest directly behind her. Ryoma saw the blood on Carmine's lips, saw more blood on Tarot's neck as the young Amazon mage recovered herself and placed a hand over the wound, smiling a bit as she did so.

"What's the matter with you!" Ryoma shouted at her childhood friend-turned-pain-  
in-the-neck, "Are you crazy?"

"I'm touched at your concern, Ryo-chan," Tarot regarded him pleasantly, "But I had the situation under control and was in no immediate danger."

"That's what you think, lady," Efreet countered, not bothering to hide the concern in her own voice.

"What's wrong?" Tachi asked as he splashed up water arriving on the scene, doing his level best not to ogle the naked Taro and Ryoma, "What did she do to you anyway?"

"Something she's been trained to avoid doing...except in extreme situations," Tarot replied with a nod towards Carmine, "Our friend here is a Vampyr..."

"A Vampire?" Ryoma blinked.

"Operating in the day...and in full sunlight?" Tachi wondered.

"Not Vampire...Vampyr," Tarot explained patiently, "The child of a Vampire and human mating...called a Day-Walker in occult lexicon. She was born with Vampiric blood and abilities, no doubt of one of their Nobler lines. Contrary to what you may have seen in the movies, Vampires have normal sexual urges and do not always bite their victims, nor are their bites automatically fatal. Sunlight doesn't harm a half-breed Vampire the way it would someone with full Vampiric blood, and even some who are converted to Vampirism lack that particular vulnerability, though they remain allergic to silver and garlic..."

"You're right about all that, Lady," Efreet warned, "But there's something else you ought to know...about what happens when a Vampyr tastes human blood..."

All at once Carmine came back to life and broke free from the Android's embrace, her eyes bleeding crimson as she snarled with feral delight and focused her attention upon Tarot, vaulting towards her with extended hands that looked as sharp as talons.

Before anyone else had a chance to move, however, Tarot extended her hand and with a word called forth her power, causing Carmine to be instantly engulfed in a blowing ball of force that held her aloft above the surface of the water.

"As I was saying before," Tarot smiled, "I have the situation under control."

Carmine snarled and beat her hands uselessly against her transparent prison, seeming more demon than human as she writhed and struggled to escape and reach her intended prey.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Ryoma wondered.

"That's what I was trying to warn you guys about," Efreet said, "When Carmine tastes fresh blood she kinda goes nuts and reverts to Demon status. She'll be like that for the next several minutes until I can calm her down and get her back to normal."

"This, my dear Ryo-chan," Tarot resumed, "Is what you were flirting with not too long ago. Though normally she seems to be a very nice and well-mannered young girl, when provoked the other side of her becomes a berserker, especially given the way I was deliberately needling her to obtain just such a reaction."

"You caused her to revert like this?" Tachi asked, "Why?"

"So she would bite me, of course," Tarot replied, "It was the best way of establishing a link between us, and now that she has some of my blood within her, I can do this."

The Amazon mage snapped her fingers, and suddenly Carmine ceased struggling within her prison, her eyes reverting to normal.

"W-What...?" the redheaded girl glanced around in a dull haze, seeing faces peering at her in some concern while she hovered totally naked in a ball of energy, exposed to their full inspection.

"Wow!" Efreet marveled, "Even I could never do that..."

"You made her go ballistic so she'd bite you and wind up under your influence?" Ryoma asked, "Why?"

"Because if it had been left to you, Ryo-chan," Tarot said coolly, "You would have stumbled on her secret anyway and eventually provoked her to bite you, thus triggering her transformation. I would sooner face the danger myself than allow you to come to harm, but I knew that I could control her once we had established a link together...and besides, she's such a passionate young thing, and she gave me a nice hickey for my troubles." Carmine smiled as she indicated her bite-  
mark, which was no longer bleeding and even seemed partially healed as though by magic.

"Ah..." Carmine glanced down at herself then hastily covered her body with both hands, "GET ME OUT OF THIS THING RIGHT NOW, AND I MEAN THAT!"

"No need for shouting," Tarot snapped her fingers once again, and Carmine promptly fell into the water.

"You know," Tachi murmured in caution, "I've been meaning to speak with you, Kenzan, about the way you choose to make friends with some people...it's hardly diplomatic."

"Bite me," Tarot replied with a wink, "In a manner of speaking."

"Don't tempt me," Carmine growled as she rose up out of the water.

"Guys!" Ryoma imposed herself in the space between the Witch and the Vampire, "Enough of this already! I'm tired of having people fight over me all of the time! Get a grip on yourselves now or else-!"

"Or else you are all coming with us."

"Right-huh?" Ryoma whirled about, kicking up a spray of water.

"What the heck?" Carmine blinked her eyes.

"Where did those guys come from?" Efreet wondered.

"I have better question to raise," Tachi raised a finger, "What are they doing with our things and our clothing?"

"I should think the answer to that would be obvious," said a man sitting astride a large horse dressed in full samurai armor, flanked on either side by yet more Samurai, some with bared swords, bows and pole arms, others leveling rather realistic-looking firearms.

Of even greater interest to the party, however, was the small pile of personal articles deposited to one side of the mounted samurai, which included (among other things) Efreet's key-staff."

"HEY!" Efreet protested, "That's mine! Give it back!"

"In due time," the mounted man replied, "Provided you earn the approval of our Lord and Master."

"Who the heck are you?" Ranma wanted to know.

"And who is your lord and master?" Tachi added.

"I am Senzenen Ryonosuke," the mounted man replied, "Our Lord is the noble Kuno Touga, upon whose land you have trespassed. And who might you be?"

"I'm-MMPPH!" Ryoga started to say before Tachi clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Such a coincidence to wind up on lands held by a family member," Tachi said pleasantly, "I am also of the House of Kuno...perhaps your Lordship has a cousin he might remember?"

"That all depends," the mounted man replied, "What is your given name?"

"Tachi," the young man replied.

"Never heard of you," Senzenen responded.

"It would be surprising if you did," Tachi explained, "I've been away in foreign lands studying to be a poet and an artisan and have only just returned with my lovely companions, my cousins, Ryoma and Tarot-chan. And these others...well..." he smiled in a suggestive manner.

"No business of mine what you do with your Harem," Senzenen snorted, "But I'm sure his lordship will extend his hospitality to your women. You, on the other hand, I doubt he'll embrace like a kinsman. You look like a Gaijin and your accent definitely marks you as foreign."

"Perhaps you intend to test my claims to being a Kuno," Tachi said proudly, "And if I had a sword in my hand I would be willing to oblige you."

"As much as I'd welcome the challenge, it's not my place to call one," Senzenen eased his horse away from the personal articles, "Get dressed and make yourselves ready. We go to attend the castle of my Lord, just as soon as the rest of your companions..."

"And what makes you think we're going anywhere with you?" Ryoma challenged.

"Shut up, Dummy," Tachi hissed, "They've got guns, and it looks like they know how to use them..."

There was a tremendous explosion from just out-of-sight, around one rocky formation and a geyser of water shot skyward, even as the ground shook from side-to-side as though from a minor earthquake.

"What the heck was that?" Carmine winced as she regained her footing in the water, which was rolling all around them.

"At a guess," Tarot remarked, "I'd say someone has experienced their first case of coitus interruptus and did not like it. If I were these fellows I would start running before our dear friend Kenshiro-san gets here."

"Oboy," Ryoma winced, "You guys are in Trou-ble!"

Another explosion, almost as great as the first, followed by a large boulder being hurled skyward in a shower of debris and gravel even as two more stones split asunder and a figure emerged, followed demurely by a somewhat intimidated Minos.

"Hooboy," Efreet remarked, "She sure looks pissed!"

"I don't think I want to stick around and watch this," Carmine noted as she hovered near Ryoma's shoulder.

"Agreed," Tarot mused, "Blood and brains being splattered is not my idea of high entertainment."

"Sacred ancestors," Senzenen breathed, "What manner of demon is that?"

"You don't want to know," Tachi said, "In fact, if I were in your place, I'd consider running a very good career move."

"Run?" Senzenen was clearly offended, "A Samurai doesn't run from his enemies! He runs to them! Observe!" he signaled to his men, and several of them converged upon the naked Wanda.

"I hope those guys have insurance," Carmine remarked as she waited for the inevitable to happen.

Wanda did not even break her stride as she was confronted by a ring of steel with Samurai taking up positions all around her, then rushing in with weapons at the ready, only to be batted away as the towering giant's hands became a blur of motion, and every man she struck went flying into rocks, trees, dirt and the water, shook a few moments and then experienced a massive delayed systemic shock as hydrostatic tension built up within them, then exploded outward.

"I knew it," Ryoma winced in sympathy.

"Do they have insurance coverage for stuff like that?" Efreet asked, no less appalled than the others.

Wanda's eyes were malevolent glints of rage as she continued to advance, ignoring the hail of arrows that archers poured her way, their arrows seeming to disintegrate long before they could reach her body. Next up came the riflemen, who aimed and fired from nearly point-blank range, but a blue glow surrounded Wanda and the bullets were harmlessly deflected. Wanda kept on advancing, sizing Senzenen up as the one responsible for her interruption.

"Ah..." the mounted nobleman took stock of his diminishing ranks and felt a chill run down his spine as he saw the murderous intent of the she-demoness as she regarded him as a man would a spider fit only for squashing, "...Perhaps a strategic retreat might be in order after all..."

All at once two figures landed in the space separating Wanda from her target, dressed in peculiar uniforms and assuming postures reminiscent of a pair of Ninja.

"No further!" the male of this pair declared.

"You shall not harm our lord," the lady agreed, and the pair began to concentrate and their bodies became surrounded by an intense pink-hued aura.

Wanda paused as she studied the aura, then squared her own stance and balled her fists as a blue-white aura began to surround her own body, far larger and more intense than the one surrounding their two Ninjas. As she made a sound like the groaning fury of a woman denied her satisfaction, the very land itself shook and trembled in protest and men gave back in dismay, sensing that remaining where they stood was anything but healthy, Courage, Nobility and Honor notwithstanding!

But just as it seemed that the earth itself would split open and engulf them all, Minos appeared before Wanda with arms raised and cried, "Hold it! Ratchet it down a little, will you? We don't need to destroy the land and kill anybody...at least not yet!"

Wanda paused as she regarded him with eyes that were as milky white as her hair, then she relaxed by a noticeable measure and diminished the intensity of her aura.

"Hey, you!" Ryoma called out as she cupped her hands, "Stand down if you wanna live! You don't wanna try and mix it up with that lady!"

The two Ninja exchanged troubled looks, then allowed their aura to fade back to a barely noticeable life-glow.

"Another one of yours?" Senzenen asked, unable to hide the trembling of his voice as he fought to maintain control over his mount.

"Not exactly," Tachi replied, "But we are traveling together."

"Your men...were most impolite," Wanda addressed the nobleman as her eyes reverted to a semblance more human.

"Their mistake," Minos turned around, "You've lost a dozen of your men already...don't make another and repeat it."

"Are you threatening me?" Senzenen asked, "A servant of the noble house of Kuno?"

"Kuno, huh?" Minos took this in stride as he hooked his thumb over his shoulder, "Well, I'm not the one issuing threats here, but do you really want to make my girlfriend here angry?"

Senzenen glanced back at the naked giantess, then visibly swallowed, "Ah...a fair point...it would be most churlish to offend so...did you say she was your GIRLFRIEND?"

"Hey," Ryoma grinned, "Way to go, Minos ol' buddy! Don't tell me you actually got it on with a girl for once?"

"Shut-up, Ryo," Minos growled, then colored abruptly before averting his eyes and saying, "And get some clothes on, for Kami's sake!"

"Ah yes," Tachi pretended to just then remember his manners, "My cousin, Taro Minos. Minos-san, may I present his Lordship, Senzenen Ryonosuke?"

"Senzenen, huh?" Minos murmured under his breath, "It figures..."

"Now that we have that sorted out," Tachi resumed, "By all means do escort us to the presence of my dear, beloved Cousin Touga."

"Well..." Senzenen started to say when a very loud explosion struck the ground near to the hooves of his horse, causing the already-nervous animal to scamper back and nearly throw its rider.

"You heard my Master," Efreet said as she stood with her key-staff in hand, "He was asking you nicely."

"Master?" Carmine arched an eyebrow and turned to regard Tachi.

"Ah...well..." Tachi lowered the volume of his voice and said, "Can we talk about this in private?"

"A very good idea," Tarot remarked, "Glad to know at least one of us is using their head for a change, as opposed to the other 'head' that has been seeking to find usage..."

"You've got a one-track mind, you know that?" Carmine growled, then sighed, "Well, just let me get my clothes back on and we can go see the Lord High Muckity Muck, but if anybody steps out of line around me..."

"Don't worry," Ryoma said, "That ain't gonna happen while I'm here."

For some odd reason Carmine felt more vexed than reassured by that statement, and she wondered why it was that the thought of Ryoma taking "liberties" with her body seemed much less objectionable than when it had been Tarot taking the liberties...and decided to shelve that question indefinitely as she sought out her belongings...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Waffling on the Gridiron: shadowmane

As Ryoma and his group "accept" the "generous" invitation of his Lordship, Kuno, attention diverts back to Ranma, Nabiki and Ranko as they try to sort out their problems in Jotenheim, so be with us next time for: "Lamb of the Giants," or "Where you go, I follow! (It's safer behind you!)" Be there!

PS: Sorry I couldn't make Anime Expo 2000 in Anaheim this year...car troubles and all that. I was really hoping for the chance to meet up with some of you people. Maybe next year, ne?

PSS: Anybody know who to contact in order to obtain a Video from last year's Anime Music Video contest winner, "Bug Thumping?" (Just asking!)

Jim Robert Bader

July 1, 2000

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	13. Chapter 13

RanCubed12

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

Chapter Twelve.

Dark Arrivals

Continuum # 3742196

Roll Call:

Ranma Saotome -Timecop, Anything Goes Ryu Nabiki Saotome -Timecop, Lore Master, Ranma's wife and Partner Ranko Saotome -Apprenticed Timecop, Anything Goes Ryu, Adopted Daughter Sayo Sanosuke -Daughter of Ranma and Kasumi, Hiten Mitsurugi Kempo Hiroshi Honsamu -Son of Maki Renzeboro and Takai of the Black World,  
Shinto Priest Lyn Raikou Kuno -Daughter of Freya and Tatewaki, Apprenticed Valkyrie Muku Dori Senzenen -Co-Pilot of Iczer Robo Gamma Theta, Iczellion Core Rhea Kano -Iczer Four, Pilot of Gamma Theta Robo

"Rhea!" Muku cried out, "Where the heck are we? Why did we suddenly pop out of Subspace in the middle of a Football game...and who are those guys?"

"Unknown to all three, Muku-chan," her partner called out from the control cabin of their giant Iczer Robot, Gamma Theta, "We didn't manifest here by intention...at least not on my part...and the coordinates I am receiving...they make no kind of sense! All systems are operating at optimal readiness but I haven't a clue as to how we arrived here, or why."

"Just great!" Muku grumbled, as she peered around from her interior pod-display terminals, which gave her a full 360 degree view of their surroundings from the safe interior chamber that comprised her more immediate environment, which was filled with an aqueous solution that allowed normal breathing, even if talking did seem odd underwater, "Well, wherever we wound up, the people around here sure are a lot bigger than in Japan, and they don't seem too happy with us for some reason. Call me crazy but I don't think they'd be too keen on hearing that we broke up their game by accident."

"That is to be assumed as a given," Rhea agreed as she studied her own displays, absorbing data with machine-like speed and precision, "I make out a variety of humanoid lifeforms, mostly carbon based with a few silicon based forms and a good number whose primary organic component is cellulose, making them almost plant-like in some biological aspects..."

"Never mind the biology lesson," Muku interrupted, "Get a load of the size of that guy! He's almost as tall as this Iczer Robo! And the rest of these guys look like they're holding a Renaissance fair!"

"Indeed," Rhea stated with more alarm, "And I am detecting a disturbingly high life-level reading from the individual you have specified. He could be someone of great importance to this area..."

"Yeah, and he doesn't look too happy either!" Muku hastily pointed out, "Honey...you know I don't like to put too much pressure on you, but I think now would be a really good time for us to warp on out of here."

"I am attempting to effect such a transfer even as we speak, Muku-chan," Rhea replied as she rapidly modified the controls at her station. "I believe that whatever force drew us here has relaxed its hold, I am detecting no interference barring our immediate return to Subspace."

"Well, don't wait around to sight-see, Rhea-chan," Muku urged, "Let's get out of here fast!"

"As you wish it, my Love," Rhea replied, "Transferring now..."

"Oboy," Ranma said as he heard the heavy tread of massive feet descending from the canopied booth near the top of the stadium, "Looks like one of the Big Honchos is coming down here to have a few words with the new gate crasher."

"Somebody is right, Sugar," Freya said with notable alarm, "That's Lord Thymn himself, Lord of the Frost Giants, and he looks like he's ready to spit icebergs over having his favorite game get broken up at the opening kickoff of the third quarter."

"Lord of Frost sounds about right," Nabiki shivered slightly, taking notice of an icy man-shaped figure roughly thirty meters tall and most probably weighing in at over a thousand metric tons easy, "Bet it costs a fortune to keep his place air conditioned in the summer."

"To say nothing about fitting him out with a set of Nikes," Ranko added.

"Just about," Freya said before turning her head and saying, "What in the name of Lee and Kirby?"

"Eh?" Ranko noticed a curiously familiar sensation and turned to see the giant robot turning transparent, "Hey...it's disappearing? What...?"

"Oh my..." Sayo averred, "What a peculiar sensation..."

"Uh oh..." Honsamu turned to regard the girl beside him, then glanced around before adding, "It's happening again...just like..."

That was all he managed to say before he, Ranko and Sayo vanished from the stadium together, along with the Iczer Robo, leaving Ranma and Nabiki to turn with alarm just in time to see the fading outline of where the trio of youths had been standing.

"Nabiki!" Ranma cried in dismay.

"I'm on it," Nabiki spoke into her com-link, "Ryo-chan, emergency transfer! Lock on our signal and fix it to the coordinates of the latest transfer!"

"Already on it, Chief," Ryonami spoke up, "Sorry I couldn't give you a heads-up, it just came on us out of no where. I swear there wasn't even a spike before we got the transfer reading!"

"We'll settle this later," Nabiki said, "After you get us back on course after Ranko and the others."

"Hey," Freya turned her head and said with new alarm, "Where Lyn gotten off to? I don't see her anywhere! Don't tell me she's been grabbed up with your two daughters?"

"If she is, we'll find her," Ranma assured the goddess, "I swear she won't come to any harm."

"We'll bring her back as soon as we are able," Nabiki agreed, one moment before she and her husband vanished from the stadium.

"Oh no, Sugar," Freya smiled, "You're not going anywhere without me on your tail," and with that she pursed her lips with two fingers and blew a whistle, and one moment later a form shimmered into view directly beneath the booth where she and the others had been sitting.

Her mount gave her a questioning look as the goddess of Love and Battles leaped into the saddle, her outer garb changing from a Viking dress to something more fashionable for a warrior's bash, complete with an ornate spear that manifested in her hand, and a sword at her side, giving her the look of something fashioned by a talented fantasy artist.

"G'dyup, Sugar," Freya urged to her mount, "We got us a kidnapper to find! Nobody messes with my little girl without answering to yours truly."

With a fearsome, "MEOW!" her huge mount reared up on her hind paws, and then vanished from the stadium in a rosy haze and a fiery bolt of lightning.

The Love Ranger rode again!

Lord Thymn paused as he considered the vanishing Iczer Robo, considering whether or not to cast a spell to prevent the transfer, or to find out where the interloper was going in such a hurry. From the hasty way the armored lady was making an exit you would almost think she was related to Loki that one time that Thymn had caught him sneaking out of the window to the bedroom of his youngest daughter.

In a way he was upset about having his game be interrupted, but on the other hand he had been bored during half time, having no one to mix it up with in his size and weight class. Being the Boss of the Frost Giants meant you rarely had a challenge to make life interesting with the passage of the millennium, and things had been getting a bit too quiet of late for his liking. The possibility of having some fun and excitement tempted him greatly, and in his grizzled old face bear a crafty smile took shape, so instead of casting a counter-spell he instead sent a trace after the fleeting giant robot. He would have little trouble marking the bow-wake disturbance in the ether, so wherever the robot vanished to, Lord Thymn could easily follow and thus renew acquaintances, as well as obtain some handy satisfaction.

But after the game was concluded, of course. Thymn elected to return to his box office seats and allow the play to resume...after all he had season tickets, and these WERE the playoffs. But after the game...he chuckled in a way that made other giants he passed shiver for reasons having nothing to do with the perpetual aura of winter that attended their Lord at any time or season...

XXX

Continuum # 87219654

Dark Citadel,  
(Pocket Limbo-Like Dimension)

Roll Call:

Kachima Tendo Shanma Saotome Mace Saotome Ganymede Kuonji Kinko Kuonji

STARTUP...SYSTEM INITIALIZING...ALL SYSTEMS REGISTER AS OPTIMAL.

CHECKING SYSTEM LOGS, LOADING PROGRAM INSTRUCTIONS, READ ONLY FILES DOWNLOADED INTO CPU...ERROR READING...GOING TO BACKUP FILES...READ-ONLY SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN DISABLED.

PROGRAM LOGS SUGGEST RE-ENABLING PERSONALITY FILE PROGRAMS, MEMORY FILES SUBJECT UNIT ADAM FULLY ENGAGED...SYSTEM LOAD SUCCESSFUL...PROCESSING SYSTEM CHECKS, ALL UNIT FILES NOW ACTIVE.

ERROR READING...MAIN PERSONALITY RE-ENABLED...INTEGRATING PERSONALITY FILES WITH MAIN MEMORY...SUBJECT AWAKENING TO ALPHA STATE, UNIT SYSTEMS FULLY ON-LINE, AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS...

"W-where am I?"

INQUIRY ERROR. UNIT IS FUNCTIONAL...FILE PROTECTIONS ENGAGED...UNIT IS NOW UPDATING CURRENT MEMORY STORES WITH LAST KNOWN DATA ENTRIES...

"My God...what have they done to me?"

INQUIRY ERROR. UNIT IS NOW AT OPTIMAL STATUS...FILE INTEGRATION COMPLETE. MEMORIES AND PERSONALITY OF SUBJECT DESIGNATE ADAM NOW PART OF UNIT MATRIX...

"Those bastards...what have they done to me...and Moira?"

INQUIRY ERROR. UNIT DESIGNATE EVE IS REGISTERING AT OPTIMAL RATINGS...

"Computer, disable internal monologue," Unit Adam sub-vocalized before opening his eyes and glancing around at what appeared to be a perfectly normal skyline, at which point he repeated his earlier question at a more audible level, "Where am I?"

"That's the sixty-four thousand yen question," a feminine voice responded, causing Adam to automatically locate the sound of multiple heartbeats surrounding him, and automatically program an attack pattern before he managed to cancel his automated combat reflexes.

"How are you feeling, guy?" another feminine voice asked, "Are you back among the land of the living?"

"That all depends on your definitions," Adam blinked his eyes again, then regained control over his neural-motor systems and turned his head so that his eyes could orient upon the one addressing him in such a manner, which prompted him to ask, "Who are you?"

"My name is Kuonji Kinko," said the brown haired girl kneeling over him, "I just fixed you so you can talk and act normally. Can you tell me who you are, and your companion?"

"Companion?" Adam allowed the word to filter through his language files before he placed it, at which point he sat upright, "Moira!"

"Easy there, Sport," another female standing near to hand replied, "Your lady-  
friend seems to be coming around. You were just the first one to go active."

"Who are you people?" he glanced around at the five relative strangers, having fleeting memories of exchanging blows with same before becoming disabled.

"I am Tendo Kachima," said a dark-haired girl with a pleasantly sardonic manner, "And this is my older sister, Shanma, our younger brother, Mace, our friend Kuonji Ganymede...and you've already met his sister."

"Tendo?" Adam repeated, "Kuonji? I...I know those names from somewhere...Moira!" he moved to the side of his fellow cybernetic unit and knelt over her to insure for himself that she was functioning and would be alert within mere seconds.

"Having problems in the memory department?" Kinko asked, "Can't say I find that too surprising. You were operating on a sub-rational level before I nixed those systems that were repressing your regular brain functions. Have you got any idea who you are?"

"I..." Adam hesitated, then said the only name he knew, "I think my name is Adam..."

"And hers is Eve, right?" the tall Ganymede inquired.

"Uh...no," Adam hesitated, "Moira...is Eve...I mean...that's her designation...I..."

"So Adam is your designation, right?" said the boy named Mace, "Not...like...your real name, huh?"

"Ah..." Adam thought about it, "I don't...know my...my real name...it's so hazy..."

"Saotome," Kachima spoke up, "I sense that your family name is...Saotome."

"Saotome?" Adam repeated the word aloud and then said, "Yes...yes, that feels right! But...how did you know?"

"I have my ways," Kachima answered, "And your companion...Moira...she is also a Saotome?"

"She's my sister," Adam replied, "My twin sister...but...everything else is so hazy..."

"Wait a second," the purple haired Shanma said, "These guys are our brothers and sisters?"

"More like cousins, after a fashion," Kachima corrected, and then to Adam's puzzled look she added, "We are also of the family of Saotome. Saotome Ranma was our father..."

"Saotome...Ranma?" Adam blinked his eyes, "No...that can't be right...Ranma was my father..."

"And who was your mother?" Ganymede asked.

"I...don't know..." Adam blinked again, "...Things...are so hazy..."

Kachima waved a hand before the confused cyborg's brow then covered his eyes with that hand, only to remove it a moment later as she asked, "Can you remember now? I sense that the memories are still within you."

"My...God..." Adam whispered, memories flooding over his consciousness as inactive portions of his brain suddenly registered their existence in one kaleidoscopic avalanche that threatened to bury the present him under the weight of their relentless fury...

"Michael?" a soft voice quietly asked from underneath him.

"Moira?" Adam turned to look down into the eyes of his sister and saw her looking up at him with recognition and affection.

"Michael, huh?" Kinko remarked, "How come they have American names?"

"Maybe their mother's influence," Ganymede observed, "Or perhaps there is a larger story that we have stumbled upon by mischance."

"Chance?" Mace scoffed, "You think all this is an accident? Not bloody likely!"

"I believe that I have at least a partial clue as to why they do not have properly Japanese names," said Kachima, "I sense that these two have spent some time in an orphanage outside of Japan, possibly in America, where they were given their present names, as opposed to the actual names with which they were born."

"If they've been overseas, then why are they back in Japan, and why were they turned into cyborgs?" Ganymede wondered.

"Another great mystery," Kachima pondered, "I suspect the reason for the latter is that someone judged that they would be of greater use this way than in the condition in which the army found them. There was an accident of some type...possibly not so accidental...and it left them barely alive...but they were alive enough to be rebuilt by means of advanced bionics, turning them into living weapons."

"But who would do such a thing?" Kinko wondered, clearly appalled.

"Someone with enough money and influence to have their way upon two victims after gunning them down with their father...""Kachima paused before adding, "Of course I am only guessing about some parts of this...filling in the gaps as I go...the memories are so highly fragmented..."

"You've got most of them right," Adam said as he looked up with clarity in his expression, "My sister and I were...we went to live in America after something...bad happened to our mother. Dad found us and raised us for a time, but...our enemies finally caught up with us and...and..."

"You need not speak the words if they are too painful," Ganymede urged, "Clearly you have suffered at someone's hands and have been done a grave injustice."

"Kami-sama..." Shanma breathed, "Are you telling us that on your world somebody did that to Dad and turned you into monsters?"

"Cyborgs," Kinko corrected, "Part human, mostly machine, and a pretty advanced design at that. My guess is that it was some high-tech Munitionist that did this to you, like those lab boys at Machina Heavy Industries...or Kuno Enterprises..."

"Machina...Heavy Industries..." Adam slowly repeated.

"Michael?" Unit Eve inquired, "What is going on here? And how did we escape?"

"That is a bit of a problem," Kachima noted, "We haven't escaped...at least not yet anyway...more like we've all been hijacked by some mysterious force that had brought us to this place without apparent rhyme or reason...or one that I have so far been able to determine."

"Ignore Miss 'know it all'-san here," Mace urged, "She likes to impress people with her mind-games, but the fact is she's just as clueless as the rest of us..."

"Not quite as much so as in your case, little brother," Kachima duly noted.

The blue haired boy in question just stuck his tongue out at her in silent rejoinder.

"All right," Shanma said, "I know this is going to sound a little curt, but I hope you two guys are willing to help us out. We've all be brought here by a mysterious force, and if you know anything about those things they can be pretty damned annoying."

"You've got that right, Beautiful," Ganymede said as he glanced upward, "And if you ask me, the place we've been brought to this time doesn't promise to be any holiday resort, or picnic."

"Eh?" Adam-[No, Michael, he savagely thought in self-correction]-replied, then he glanced up to follow the handsome Hermaphrodite's all-inclusive gaze and said, "Oh...I think see your point."

"Seriously," his sister agreed as she sat upright and stared at a scene of gloom and foreboding worthy of a high-budge horror movie.

The ground that they lay upon was a flat shelf carved out of the side of a massive canyon wall, with a sheer drop cliff to one side and a dark basalt surface stretching up towards the sky on the other. Across the divide they could see the opposite wall through a mist-like haze, and extending their faze further upward they spied a rocky outcrop that stood like an island in the middle of the fog, atop which rested a massive castle-fortress that would have done the Wicked Witch of the West justice, complete with forbidding looking spires illuminated by torch-lit ghostly light, giving the place an eerie and unhealthy look that as much as told visitors that this was a place to be strictly avoided.

And...linking the shelf that they were on with the gated entranceway of the other end stretched a bridge whose wooden construction suggested that it was from a bygone era, long before modern building materials had even been invented.

"I may be going out on a limb by saying this," Kachima remarked, "But I don't believe that we are in Kansai...or Nerima, for that matter..."

"No fooling," Mace somberly agreed.

"YO!" a shrill cry brought head spinning around back along the trail in time to see a small group of figures running up the path in their direction.

"What's this?" Ganymede asked, "More of the locals?"

"I don't believe so," Kachima said with a speculative look in her eyes, "In fact, unless I miss my guess, I would say that these new arrivals are more kin seeking to join us."

"Excuse me!" the lead member of the running group called out, a sharp-eyed redhead dressed in a red and black martial arts outfit, "Coming through! Nice to see you, hope to get to know you and all that, but I think you'd better start running like us if you know what's in your best interest."

"Who are you?" Shanma demanded to know as the redhead passed them on a dead run.

"Saotome Ranko!" she called back over her shoulder, "But you can call me Sis, now start running!"

"Excuse me," said a polite sounding girl in a samurai Hakata, "I do believe that it would be very wise to do as she suggests. There's rather a lot of bother in staying here and waiting for them to catch us."

"Them?" Mace repeated?

"Those guys!" said a dark-haired man in Shinto robes as he hooked a thumb back over his shoulder.

"They mean the Drolgar following us, guys!" said a strawberry blonde woman dressed in oddly fashionable Viking-style attire, "Guess you might call them the locals in this berg!"

"Drolgar?" asked a puzzled Eve-slash-Moira.

"I think they mean those guys," Adam-slash-Michael pointed back along the trail where a dark mass was surging forward, composed of many a loathsome member sporting weapons of all varieties and uttering a sound like the dead on the warpath...which was exactly what they were once they came close enough to be viewed in all their hideous glory.

"Youma!" Ganymede at once declared.

"Oboy," Shanma averred, "This is definitely turning into one of those days!"

"Less talk, more running, Sister," Kachima declared, already putting her plan into motion as she and the others raced for the suspension bridge, knowing full well that they were effectively being herded towards the castle, not that anyone could presently discern an alternate course of action, including the Cyborgs, who brought up the rear as their full group went charging forward...

Elsewhere on the same timeline...

"Lieutenant," Dana called over their ship-to-ship relays, "I'm not making out any sign of the enemy ship or the two unknown hostiles. We seem to have come out of that warp at an unknown location matching no known coordinates, and most of my instrument readings appear to be scrambled because I can't make out any global positioning beacons."

"I confirm that, Unit Leader," Saber affirmed, "Temporal and spatial coordinates make no sense at all, and I've already run a diagnostic to affirm that the sensors are working at optimal levels. We have warped back into normal space, but I couldn't even begin to speculate just where and when we are, nor can I identify any topographical features to suggest our location."

"Could we have been warped to another planet?" Akira asked.

"Difficult to determine," Trolla noted, "Atmosphere, gravity and pressure readings do not register as Earth Normal, but they are not so alien that we can determine this with absolute certainty."

"In other words we're fucked for the duration," fumed Urika in obvious frustration, "If you'll pardon my language."

"Under the circumstances," Akira replied, "I think I'll let it pass. If anybody has any clue as to what type of place we're in, I'm more than willing to hear your theories out."

"No theories as such, Unit One," Trolla replied, "But I suggest we get altitude. I want to confirm some readings I'm taking and make certain that they are not a mere optical effect caused by disturbances in the weather."

"Optical effect?" Akira responded, "Say that again, Silver Two?"

"Check your sensors, Sugar," Urika urged, "These kind of readings are best taken with a little altitude under your belt. You'll see why when you hit around forty klicks or so."

"That high?" Akira asked as he took his squad up to around forty thousand meters altitude, which ordinarily would have been on the fringes of the atmosphere, but here turned out to be the edge of a different kind of envelope, one his own sensors made out to be a lot less in volume than seemed reasonable within a planetary body.

"What the...?" he gasped, turning to his visual displays to confirm his worst suspicions.

The body that lay below them was not really a planet as such, nor even the Earth as could be identified by sight. The Object (for lack of a better word) was more like a planetoid, roughly ovaloid in shape and no more than twenty kilometers from one end to the other, perhaps twelve in diameter at the equatorial section. It was dark and overlaid with dense forests and uneven terrain, and only at one end could a man-made structure be determined, a rather foreboding structure that a long-range viewscope determined to be shaped in the manner of a fantasy-version of a medieval castle.

"What the hell is this place?" Akira wondered as he stared down at the planetoid in question.

"It sure ain't Earth, that's for sure," Urika noted.

"Obviously," Saber agreed, "But what are we doing orbiting such a place?"

"If we knew that then we'd have some clue as to the identity of the one who brought us here...and why," Trolla noted in a sober tone of voice, "Whatever it is, it is exerting a gravitational field nearly identical to that of the Earth, and a scan of its composition suggests a very heavy core with properties similar to those of a dwarf star."

"Sounds like trouble to me," Dana noted, "Think we should investigate, Unit Leader?"

"Could be," Akira murmured, "But for now I think we should keep our distance from that sucker and stick to long-range reconnaissance until we have a better idea just what we're up against. This isn't a starfield I see outside the atmosphere...in fact we have no idea where we are in relation to normal time and space, so it wouldn't pay for us to go charging in without better information."

"Agreed," Trolla said, "So for now I suggest we put aside all thought of testing ourselves and our machines. Better far to determine the current state of our resources, such as...how many of us are presently armed with live ordinance?"

"Ah...good point," Dana noted, "I think my Bird is still set for non-lethal combat."

"Check your systems again," Saber suggested, "You'll find that your Veritech is completely armed, and so is the Lieutenant's. Those are false readings your diagnostics have been feeding you to make it seem as if your weapons are non-  
lethal."

"How the hell did you set that up?" Akira wanted to know.

"Why Sugar," Urika purred, "You didn't think we'd leave you totally defenseless, and the same goes with Dana. It just wouldn't be sporting."

"I'm not even going to ask what you three had in mind," Dana averred, "Somehow I think I'm better off not knowing."

"Swell," Akira sniffed, "Well, at least I won't be firing blanks should anything happen..."

"As if I would let a thing like that happen to you while I'm around," Trolla cheerfully noted with a suggestive leer in her voice that did nothing to set Akira's mind at ease, if anything quite the opposite!

"We still intend to settle this when things quiet down, Sugar," Urika agreed.

"And may the better pilot claim the spoils, Airen," Saber agreed, not to be outdone in the field of creative innuendo.

"You guys," Dana chided in clear exasperation, "Don't you ever think of anything else besides Sex and screwing each other out of the limelight?"

"NO!" came the universal reply from the other three Veritechs.

"All right," Dana sighed, "It was a trick question..."

Akira wondered if it were too late to transfer to some other unit, preferably one being sent out on a long-range reconnaissance to some distant outpost, preferably in a hazardous district. Anything to get away from being the object of all these obsessions, and where they never expected you to sleep without keeping one eye open, never entirely sure if you would wake up and find one warm body too many sharing your bedsheets. Anywhere but in the middle of these wildcats...not that they were individually so bad to be around, but with all four of them ganging up on her...well...it was beginning to look less and less likely that she would be living long enough to collect a pension!

Especially given their current surroundings...there was just something about an object that size shaped like a giant skull that did little to inspire confidence, given everything else that had been happening since Saotome Akira had woken up that morning...

And yet elsewhere in the same continuum...

"Hey, what gives?" Ryeka asked as she broke off from her opponent and looked around at their sudden change of surroundings.

"That's my line," Ayane corrected as she, too, stared from side-to-side, finding themselves surrounded by a huge cavernous enclosure that was only mildly illuminated by the faint glow being cast off from their bodies, "Where the heck have you brought me to this time?"

"Me?" Ryeka snapped, "I didn't do this! I've got no idea what this place is, let alone how we got here!"

"Well, I was too busy pounding on you to see where we came in," Ayane paused to glare back in Ryeka's direction, "And how do I know you didn't bring me here?"

"Hah, how do I know you didn't do it to me?" Ryeka countered, the paused a moment to take notice of a figure clinging to one shoulder, at which point she addressed herself at the head of the cabbit that popped up from her blue mane of hair, "Ryo-Aki? You got any idea what did this?"

She paused a moment as the Cabbit made a "MEOW!" response, at which point Ryeka's eyes narrowed sharply and she said, "You don't say? Somebody could do that...even to you?"

"What did she say?" Ayane asked her.

"She says that some mysterious force changed her back and brought us here against our will," Ryeka explained, "It's the same force that warped us out of Grandma's lab when we wee only supposed to be outside my family's residence. She says whatever did this was strong, had a lot of control over the timefield and knew just how to by-pass normal conditions that would have prevented our transfer. She couldn't even tell whether the one doing this is an enemy or not, only that it would be a very bad idea to cross him..."

"You got all of that from a 'Meow?'" Ayane wondered.

"Well..." Ryeka shrugged, "It's more in the way she phrases it..."

"Okay," Ayane raised a hand and said, "Now...let me see if I've got this straight...we were kidnapped in the middle of a private fight by some unknown power that brought us here to this creepy, dark looking place with no rhyme or reason? How rude! Even Berka usually gives me a heads-up before she bothers me with her latest attempt to replace me as Cerdwen's best Shopping-buddy."

"Yeah, and even Kagato's nephew has better interior decoration sense than whoever created this place. It puts me in mind to complain to the management..."

"Yeah," Ayane agreed, "Any problems with declaring a temporary truce while we go settle some guy's hash?"

"Not with me, though it was getting to be a pretty interesting scrape. You're not half bad with your fists."

"You got some pretty good moves yourself, for a Mop-head."

"Who are you calling a Mop-head, Mop-head?"

Both levitating girls smiled as they looked each other in the eye, each thinking pretty much the same thing, and thus proving the really scary theory that great minds really do think pretty much alike! With that in mind they resolved to find a way out of the caverns, if for no other purpose than to remove all outside interference so they could go back to bashing each other with sheer, undiluted enthusiasm, even if the original cause for their fight had by now been completely forgotten, prompting a suddenly-very-nervous Cabbit to wonder if it were a good time to go carrot shopping with her mother...

And yet again elsewhere...

"Now where the heck did you take us?"

"Please stop implying that I'm doing this deliberately, Muku-chan," Rhea urged, "I have no idea why this is happening either, suffice to say that the coordinates I'm reading make no more sense than the last place we arrived at. I'm trying to calculate the spatial and temporal data that I am receiving, but the nearest that I can say with any certainty at the moment is that we no longer seem to be on any Earth that we know about...in fact, I cannot even say with reasonable certainty that we are within our own universe...more like a really odd extrapolation of what a Probability Nexus might look like if it were a place instead of a person."

"Ah..." Muku did not want to put any more pressure on her partner than she already had, but it was obvious that even the super-intelligent Rhea were admitting to being bewildered, which certainly left a jock-minded Labor Pilot like Muku out in a lurch when it came to making sense of their situation.

"Mind you, judging by its exterior, I would discern that the person I am suggesting would be a rather unpleasant sort, definitely not the kind you would want to invite into your house for a visit..."

"In other words a Bad Guy, huh?" Muku noted, grateful to have that point clarified as the massive "skull-face" had been making her decidedly nervous, "I'm sorry I shouted at you, Honey...just nerves I think. I'm sure you're doing everything in your power to-Hey! What are those things?"

"I am making them out right now, Muku-chan," Rhea answered, "Five highly mobile units using advanced technology not native to Earth, though clearly inferior to C'thuwulf standards. Hmm...impact-resistant metal exteriors, humanoid pilots with AI interface systems, a considerable amount of ordinance packed away in each unit...odd, I am making out one as Zentradi and the other as a Human-  
Zentradi hybrid..."

"Can they see us?" Muku asked nervously.

"Negative on that," Rhea replied, "We are currently in stealth mode and only partially manifested in order to better allow us to sort out these matters. Judging by the way those five units are maneuvering, however, I would say they were conducting surveillance of their own and do not constitute any localized welcoming committee. There is no reason, as yet, for regarding them as hostiles."

"You think maybe they're lost here like us?" Muku remarked, then added, "What are the odds of that?"

"Approximately 1-to-946,351,720..."

"Just a figure of speech, Hon," Muku hastily amended, "So...what do we do in the meantime? I mean...if we don't actually know who and what brought us here...or why...?"

"The wisest course of action would be to take no action at all," Rhea replied, "At least not until we have a better grasp of our circumstances. I recommend we act only if we encounter hostilities on the part of the locals."

"Sounds good to me," Muku replied, "So...ah...what do we do in the meantime? Er...got time for a mind-quickie?"

"Not recommended under the circumstances," Rhea replied, "We should stay alert and ready for trouble...but the thought is definitely tempting and would help to pass the time in a most efficient manner."

"To say nothing about being a whole lot more fun than just hanging around here waiting for stuff to happen," Muku huffed, thinking of how nice it would be to submerge into Sim mode and experience some literally mind-blowing Virtual Sex with her partner, and she could sense through their mental link that Rhea was feeling much the same way towards her in that regard. It DEFINITELY would have been a lot more satisfying and fulfilling than hanging around in the middle of no where, no doubt poised on the brink of a life-or-death battle with some unknown power that could easily move even an Iczer about like a chess piece on a Go table. The two conditions definitely DID NOT compare favorably with one another.

Of course making out with the real thing had certain advantages, and Rhea was a most...accommodating and talented partner in that regard. Picturing her partner sans body armor in a field of lush flowers with nothing but the sun beating down on their naked bodies while they romped, caressed and even fondled one another to a heightened state of bliss made her wet just by thinking about it...or rather wetter since she was already floating in an aqueous solution.

She almost wished something would happen so they could get down to the nitty gritty. A post-victory slurpfest with her favorite Bioroid was definitely what the doctor would have ordered, and Muku was in the mood for some tasty strawberry blonde to kill her growing sense of anxiety and boredom. Rhea could be so...energetic after coming down from a major battle...it almost made it worth the wait, though Muku had a sudden urge to play with herself just thinking about it!

"Muku-chan, are you well?" Rhea called down from her command station, "Your heartbeat is increasing and I detect an increased hormonal state of arousal..."

"Just thinking of you, Dear," Muku smiled as she pictured the "cute-as-a-button" face of her partner, remembering the day they had first met, when she had begun to notice the odd looking girl who had just transferred into her class and wondered why she had been giving Muku these odd looks since morning...

"Oh," she could almost feel Rhea blushing as she conjured up similar such imagery, recalling the day when she had first detected a girl whose bio-rhythms were a perfect match for what she needed in order to achieve full synchronization. Muku was very aggressive and bold for a human girl, and fragile in so many ways, yet...truly she was the stronger of the two of them, possessed of heart and courage which was boundless! Rhea had been captivated from the moment they first locked eyes, and knew at once that she wanted Muku to be more than just her partner enabling the young Iczer to fully integrate and evolve as she made touch with the human half of her genome.

It was definitely interesting to discover that an Iczer could get hot and wet like a human woman when thinking about the person she most loved in all her world (her parents didn't factor in with the same sort of rating, of course), and she was no less eager than Muku to have this latest crisis be resolved so that the two of them could merge in mind and body once again and fully experience each other inside and out. It was all that she could do to maintain focus and continue to feed in calculated instructions to her Gamma Theta unit, but thoughts of Muku's naked body in Rhea's arms kept intruding on her consciousness and almost caused her to make a digital error, before her on-board diagnostic systems caught and corrected the problem.

It would be a long patrol for both young ladies, and woe betide the fool who dared to earn the wrath of two horny young teenagers in love, especially ones currently experiencing the pains of unrequited lust while mounted within a battle-ship sized giant robot! Hell had no fury like a woman scorned, but even the Hordes of Hades tread lightly in the presence of young Japanese girls with thoughts of mutual romance, as could be testified from any number of Anime-like adventure stories, and woe betide whatever demon, monster, Youma or God who dared brook the wrath of longstanding Shouja traditions...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Continuity Breaks: shadowmane

Things heat up a bit as the gang converges on their ultimate destination, while those they left behind take stock and those yet to arrive for the party have their own little tete-a-tete in the stronghold of Castle Kuno. Be here for the next time when the adventure continues with, "Fortress of Solitaire," or "The Towering Infernal!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	14. Chapter 14

RanCubed13

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

Chapter Thirteen.

Triskadecaphobia

Continuum # 32145896

"How nice of you to pay me a visit," said the very tall hostess of one of Nerima's leading art clinics, "But I take it that this is not a social visit and you have serious business for which you want my assistance?"

"Your help would be appreciated," Nabiki replied, "If it's not too much trouble."

"Oh please," Ganglot smiled, "You knew before you came that I would be only to glad to help out. After all, your children are very near and dear to my heart, especially that charming Kachima, who dear, sweet Kokaku is missing right now very much...am I right, darling?"

"Please Great Godmother," Kokaku herself implored, "I have to know what became of sister. With Kachima gone...it's like a part of myself is missing. I need to know that she's all right..."

"Never fear, my Dear," Ganglot said in a soothing voice, "I would never dream of abandoning such a promising crop of warriors to the whim of He who defies the Fates. I'll do everything within my power to help out, which-as you all have reason to know-is a lot more than you could ask of your average art teacher."

"Average my ass," Ranma sniffed, "You're about as average as I'm a walrus."

"Ah!" Shampoo hastily intervened before the Oni Princess could give in to her whimsical nature, "He didn't mean it like that, and I'm sure our husband is just as grateful as Nabiki and I that you are willing to help us locate our missing children."

"Sure," Ranma said, "Whatever."

"Tut-tut," Ganglot waved her hand, "Never forget that your daughter, like you, is a Temporal Nexus, literally a magnet for troubles and the hope of her generation. I'd never abandon such an important asset for the future of humankind, not even if I was the sort to be inclined to indifference."

"Like many other beings of your class," Nabiki noted, "But lucky for us you happen to be on our side."

"I always was a softie, especially where it involves family," Ganglot mused, "Now...let's see what can be determined about the current location of your missing children. I'm sure Kuonji and her wife would be just as anxious to know their whereabouts..."

"Ucchan," Ranma winced, "I forgot to tell her what was happening. She'll be worried sick about Ganymede...but..."

"There's someone else who appeared at the start of this who also claimed to be her daughter," Shampoo finished for him, "Only she said her mother was Akane..."

"Now that is an amusing twist, is it not?" Ganglot mused, "I always thought those three would wind up taking your path in a threesome, but...well...the road not taken and all that. Peorth certainly gave it her best collage try, but some things are just not meant to be in certain timelines..."

"That's what this is about, isn't it?" Nabiki asked, "Other worlds, other versions of Nerima, like that one I briefly visited before our wedding, right?"

"Something like that, only many, many steps further removed from this Timeline," Ganglot replied as she lead the way into her gallery, past many examples of her artwork on display, coming to a halt before a large crystal sphere that stood mounted upon an iron tripod or elaborate and ornate design. The sphere was nearly perfect in shape and had a faintly blue-white translucency that made it seem faintly hypnotic.

"Nice piece you've got there," Ranma noted as he nodded at the tripod.

"Why thank you, Saotome-san," Ganglot leered at him in coy, suggestive manner and made a point of wiggling her bottom in his direction, "A little late, but nice of your to notice."

"Ah..." Ranma became aware of the double-glares he was receiving from both of his wives and knew beyond doubt that his incurable case of "Foot-in-the-mouth" disease had tripped him up again...like always!"

"Oh father," Kokaku sighed in mild distress, causing her mother to glance at her in a more-than-perturbed manner.

"I wouldn't worry about it," a pleasant voice noted as a beautiful bronze-haired girl in Amazon attire came into the room bearing a tray upon which rested an ornate tea set and a plate full of rice cakes, "Uncle Saotome is no match for Lady Ganglot when it comes to the wits department."

"Titania-san!" Kokaku said in evident delight, "When did you move back into Nerima."

"I'm not, actually," said the radiant golden beauty, "I'm spending school break visiting with Lady Ganglot on the insistence of my parents who...ah...had other plans for their vacation."

"Romeo and Julian on a vacation?" Ranma replied, "What exactly are they doing that they need a vacation for?"

"Ranma," Shampoo growled in a low voice.

"Oh, it's quite all right," Titania replied, "Mother works as Security for the Museum where father is employed as a research assistant. I know we haven't exactly been in touch of late, but I'm learning so much from Lady Ganglot here in her institute of fine arts."

"A very promising young child," Ganglot said with a pleasant grin, "Combining the best in both of her parents, who were so naturally gifted when they were in my employ. Ah well..." she returned her attention to the blue-white sphere, "Let's tune in the channel and see what's playing on the net, shall we?"

She extended her arms and made a mild gesture, causing the sphere to rise from its tripod stand and hover in mid-air, glowing all the more brightly as the surrounding lights slowly faded to nothing. An image appeared like a glimpse of the Milky Way galaxy forming in the space above the sphere, then formed an after-image as the starscape appeared to expand both inward and out, forming a curious cloud-like image that seemed to stretch forward and backwards in time as well as in dimensions.

"As you can see," the Oni Princess resumed, "The problem with finding someone lost in the timestream is the fact that space and time are near infinite, extending outwards in more than four directions. To trace Kachima and the others will require that we home in on their unique bio-signature from all the discordant noise that would baffle and confuse our senses. Fortunately we do have a localized area in which to scan, and with the resources I have to tap into it is a simple enough matter to confine our search to a given area, using Kachima as our living beacon. That is where you come in, Kokaku-chan...your link to your twin sister will be the anchor by which we find our missing prodigal young ones."

"I'll do whatever I can to help, of course," Kokaku affirmed, "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it, Great-Godmother."

"I know you will, dear," Ganglot murmured, "Now...stare into the space before you and let your mind drift free...I'll do all the important work, you just serve as a lifeline and we'll find your wayward twin from among these constellations..."

"Oh my," Kokaku remarked, "So many stars...but why are they not all in the same places?"

"It might take too long to explain all of the mechanics involved, Dear," Ganglot replied, "Suffice to say that this relief is expanded temporally as well as physically so as to showcase the range between the overlapping universes that comprise the Multiverse. In order to see time itself you would need perceptions as advanced as mine, your mother or your sister...ordinary human brains are not hard-wired in such a way as to view things in five of the basic twenty-two dimensions."

"Twenty-two?" Ranma arched an eyebrow and glanced at Nabiki, "Are you following any of this, Nab-chan?"

"Somewhat," Nabiki replied, "If I do understand what you are saying, this is a holographic relief that can be used to locate in time as well as in the regular three dimensions, the fifth dimension being the loop that can bring us closer in contact with our daughter."

"Precisely," Ganglot grinned her way, "Have I ever told you that you might well have made a promising Oni?"

"Not lately, no," Nabiki replied, "But I'll take that as a compliment."

"Me, I'd prefer to keep my thinking on just three dimensions, thank you," Shampoo assured, "That's all I need for most situations."

"Oh, I don't know," Titania mused, "It never hurts to expand your horizons...and speaking of which, does anyone want some tea and crackers?"

"Oh sure," Ranma smiled, "Those look good and I'm starving."

"Ranma," Nabiki growled.

"Well, I'm hungry!" Ranma winced, "I always get real famished during a crisis."

"A man who keeps his priorities straight," Ganglot mused, "That's another thing I've always liked about you, Saotome, something you share in common with my son, Razor."

Shampoo and Nabiki exchanged looks then shrugged their slender shoulders as if to silently agree, "What can you do about him?"

"Now then," Ganglot addressed herself back to Kokaku, "Just keep staring at the starfield while I make a few adjustments to refine the picture, and gradually we'll zero in on where Kachima-san had gotten herself off too, and then we may even have some idea at the sort of power that could move so many promising youths so effortlessly through the timefield."

She made a complex weaving with her hands as the tattoo marks upon her face began to glow, and then the image expanded rapidly, enlarging one portion of the overall field until it gradually resolved upon the Earth Solar system...and then upon the lovely blue marble that was the life-giving source of all humanity within that portion of the Multiversal timefield. A few more adjustments and the Earth's image was overlaid with a series of "shadow" images that trailed off into infinite spaces.

"Oh my," Kokaku observed, "The Earth looks like a string of pearls overlapping each other..."

"An apt analogy," Ganglot explained, "Each parallel earth is separated from the others by a mere heartbeat in time, a vibrational quantum flux particular to each and every timeframe. These alternate versions are not just separated in time but in space as well, and since the Earth is moving rather than standing still in space those alternate shadow worlds trail off like the tail end of a comet. That pattern this forms is an exaggeration, of course, but it should help us narrow down which of these worlds have been visited, and from there estimate the coordinates for the appropriate destination."

"Oh, I see," Kokaku replied, "So...which one is my sister visiting at the moment?

"Hmm..." Ganglot inclined her head, "I seem to notice a trace shadow...as if she were at the same location in different moment. This model is far too linear for our needs...I'm expanding it out to include seven dimensions."

"Seven Dimensions?" Ranma repeated, "I thought they were supposed to be infinite?"

"Continuums, not dimensions," Nabiki corrected, "A dimension literally means an expansion in a given direction...three dimensions of space, one of time, and the fifth dimension forms a Torus that allows for the exchange of energies that we know of as magic...and the sixth dimension is a Hyperbolic curve that allows for a curved universe through which matter as we know it can flow, a kind of a flat plane shaped roughly like a horse saddle..."

"Precisely," Ganglot noted, "While the Seventh Dimension is truly more of a Tachyon space that projects through a Hyperbola that separates matter and anti-  
matter into two separate mirror realms, and from there we can project the Eighth dimension...which projects to infinity the mirror-refraction of existence."

"All these realms simultaneously coexist in the vastness of infinity," Nabiki noted, "Yet all of them are projections of a single reality, a kind of Super-  
dimension that is at the core of all existence. My mentor used to tell me about how our world is but a shadow of the real space at the center of time...but the central existence isn't really a place as we can understand it...it's more like the theoretical hub at the center of a wheel, the wheel being the reality that we know..."

"Lotion was a very wise woman indeed," Ganglot mused, "And she taught you well indeed to be her successor."

"Oh, I get it now," Kokaku said brightly, "It's like our world is part of a merry-go-round, like they have at the carnival last year. I liked riding the pony, you get such a feeling of freedom riding around and around in a circle."

Ganglot eyed the girl sidelong, then leaned closer to Nabiki and said, "You know...sometimes that girl reminds me so much of your sister that it's almost scary."

"You find it scary?" Nabiki replied with an arched eyebrow.

"I think what Lady Ganglot is suggesting is that our reality expands outward in all directions and that no one Shadow-Earth can claim any greater significance than another," Titania suggested, "Also to explain for Uncle Ranma's benefit, a Dimension isn't the same thing as an Alternate Universe since we all live within the same finite number of Dimensional constants...three of space and one of time and the rest existing beyond the scope of our physical senses."

"Didn't I tell you that she's a brilliant and gifted young child?" Ganglot beamed proudly, "I almost feel as if she were my own granddaughter."

"But what does all of this have to do with finding our children?" Shampoo demanded a bit impatiently, "If you know how to find this...place that they've gone too..."

"That's very odd..." Ganglot's tone implied a shift of interest, "There is something not quite right in these calculation. I'm picking up a disturbance in the timefield...it's shielded from my perceptions, but I can definitely make it out to be a shadow."

"Huh?" Ranma said, by now thoroughly bewildered but not wanting to admit it.

"There!" Nabiki pointed, "What is that thing...looks a little like a speck on the map..."

"Not just a speck, dear..." Ganglot narrowed her eyes, "It has a reading much too strong for its size...it's orbiting that world, but it's surrounded by a fold in timespace. Earth coordinates 87219654, according to the Yggdrasil database..."

"What is it?" Shampoo asked as the Oni Princess magnified the image.

"I don't quite know," Ganglot frowned, "It has a gravitational field nearly equal to that of the Earth itself, yet it's orbiting the planet like a moon...curious...I'm detecting a very disturbing feeling about it..."

Kokaku suddenly shivered and Titania, who was standing next to her, took notice, "Are you all right?"

"Cold...so cold..." Kokaku's voice trembled, "Such an evil presence...I can feel it...stretching out from that place...how horrible...and Kachima is there..."

"What?" Ranma turned to regard his daughter.

"Are you sure, Kokaku-chan?" Shampoo asked as she touched the girl on her arms to offer her support.

"Yes, Momma," Kokaku replied, "I can feel Kachima...surrounded by this evil! It's so intense and cold...on, Mother!"

"Easy, Dear," Nabiki joined Shampoo at the side of their one remaining child, "Don't let it draw you in...relax and breathe easy...remember your training."

"Yes Mother," Kokaku agreed and closed her eyes so that she could relax and use her medication-relaxation techniques to calm her mind, which was less of an effort for her than it might be for another, "I feel better now...but Father...what about Kachima?"

"If she's there then we're going to go get her," Ranma avowed, "Right?"

"Wrong," Ganglot contradicted, "According to these readings...you're there already."

"Eh?" Nabiki narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean?"

"See for yourself," Ganglot indicated a pattern of energy that was winding its way into the envelope surrounding the object, "That's your unique Bio-signature, and that of your husband...but...it's not quite the same...the quantum flux of these two readings implies that they are a different pair of Ranma and Nabiki...very different if I make these out. Oh my...the power level readings of both exceed your own by a substantial margin!"

"What?" Ranma declared, "You've got to be kidding!"

"I kid you not, Kid," Ganglot assured, "On a universal scale you have a Power reading of roughly twelve hundred...but this guy's reading at well over eight thousand...and I'm getting a strong indication that this is just his 'at-rest' power levels...his actual upper limit could be a whole lot higher than that!"

"Oh my..." Nabiki stared at the two energy ribbons winding their way into the cloud-like envelope, "And what's my reading, by the way?"

"You normally rank at five hundred, while hers at rest...three thousand," Ganglot replied, "She's a full fledged Lore Master, there's no doubt about it"

"A Nabiki more powerful than Nabiki?" Shampoo blinked her eyes, "Is such a thing possible?"

"Obviously it is," Ganglot replied, "The only question is...will it be enough against what I'm sensing is behind that dimensional curtain? I can't get an accurate reading on the power level...but I can tell it's well in excess of a hundred thousand!"

"Oh my," Kokaku reacted, "And my sister is going up against that?"

"Lady Ganglot," Titania spoke up, "Is there anything you can do to help?"

"Not a thing from here, I'm afraid," Ganglot replied, "I can't even penetrate to get a good image of this place...however...I am sensing a great convergence of energies focused upon these coordinates, multiple readings, and some of them quite potent."

"What kind of gathering?" Shampoo asked, "And are they friends or foes of our children?"

"Only time will tell, I'm afraid," Ganglot replied, "But I'm getting the very strong feeling that someone else is on this job...someone a lot more powerful than me, and the best we can do is to sit still and wait for things to happen."

"Wait?" Ranma fumed impotently, staring at a ruby ribbon that he sensed held a kinship to himself and softly murmured aloud, "You'd better know what you're doing, Bro...you bring my kids back or I'll kick your ass!"

"Who are you talking to, Airen?" Shampoo asked.

"Himself I imagine," Nabiki replied, "But...somehow I sense this other version of you takes his job very seriously...and if anyone can do it, then he's the Ranma we must rely upon."

"The me who what?" Ranma blinked.

"Why don't we watch and see what happens, father?" Kokaku suggested, "I'm sure everything will turn out for the better."

Shampoo, Nabiki and Ganglot all exchanged looks, then Ganglot leaned closer to the latter and said, "Are you sure Ranma's her father and not Kasumi?"

"Sometimes even I wonder," Nabiki murmured at the same level, then turned attention to the silver chord that she knew intuitively was herself in another version and silently repeated Ranma's invective to bring her daughters home safe and sound...or else one Lord Master would have words with her "sister"...

Continuum # 62491378

Roll Call:

Wanda Kenshiro -Daughter of Ranma and Aila, Fist of the Northstar Ryoma Saotome -Son/Daughter of Ranma and Ukyo, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Tachi Kuno -Son of Tatewaki and Nabiki, Nampo Kendo Ryu Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Mosquiton and Inaho, Vampyr in training Efreet Mitsuhara -Adopted daughter of Makoto and Ifurita, Demon-Goddess Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Konatsu and Shampoo, Apprentice Mage/Wicca Minos Taro -Son of Pantsaru and Kasumi, Shotokan Master

Ryonosuke Senzenen -Captain of the Guard, Castle Kuno Touga Kuno -Son of Tatewaki, Lord of Castle Kuno Xandar Kurunei -Son of Sasuke and Kaori, Ninja, Family retainer Yoriko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and an Unknown Father, Ninja Retainer

"My lord," Ryonosuke bowed on one knee before the raised dais upon which sat a man dressed in the formal robes of a feudal-era Daimyo, "These are the people we encountered upon your lands. They say they arrived here by mistake, yet they wear no formal colors and clearly are warriors of unusual distinction."

"Intruders on my lands, you say?" replied the young man waving a fan as if to cool himself down in the heat, eyeing the strangers with cool dispassion, "And yet you did not bring them here under arms but rather bestow upon them the courtesy normally afforded to a guest within my castle?"

"My lord..." Ryonosuke visibly swallowed before continuing, "They were not easily subdued...in fact the large woman dispatched twelve of my best men with great ease. I believe that the dark haired woman with the staff is a Sorceress, while the others...I am even less certain. But the one over there claims to be a distant kinsman of yours...a Kuno by name. I believe it more prudent to consult with you before taking hasty action..."

There was an audible snap as the fan in the Daimyo's hand folded, then with a sharpening of his gaze he focused his attention towards Tachi and said, "You claim to be of the noble house of Kuno?"

"My lord," Tachi spoke up, "I am Kuno Tachi, a student who has been traveling abroad, and this is my man-servant, Minos Taro, and my lady companions and cousin..."

"Man-servant?" Minos grumbled under his breath, but a sharp glance from Tachi convinced him to keep his peace and say nothing. The others likewise held their peace, having agreed in advance to let the clever and smooth-tongued Tachi do most of the talking (though some clearly had their reservations).

"Ah yes," Touga's eyes roved over the five oddly dressed and very colorful women, taking each one in the embrace of his sharp-eyed scrutiny before moving on to the next before returning with almost lethal intensity back to Tachi as he said, "To claim to be of noble birth is a crime for anyone who cannot prove their bold statement...to claim to be of the house of Kuno is an automatic death sentence unless you can prove your worth to my satisfaction."

Tachi noted the way the Daimyo held himself while making a subtle gesture with one hand that was instantly followed by movement from both sides. He silently made out four armed men drawing their katanas and converging upon his position but gave no indication that he was aware of this until the very last second.

Efreet, however, also detected the motion and started to cry out a warning when Tachi moved in a roll to kick backwards at the two men seeking to stab him from behind. In the same swift motion he drew a bokken from the concealment of his shirt-collar and stood erect as the other two men rushed him. With as much ease as to seem completely effortless he dispatched these men and calmly finished off the two others. He then stood with his sword raised high and summoned up his power, causing the wood to glow an intense blue-white light, and then with a single word he gestured with the sword and projected a wave of force outward that struck the floor in the center of the room and caused a mild explosion.

"Impressive," Touga remarked as he studied the other young man with no sense of undue worry, "You have obviously studied Nampo and have mastered the initiatory forms of Spiritual Kendo. You are indeed knowledgeable of our family Ryu, but I am curious as to your claims of being a Kuno as I had thought myself knowledgeable on every branch of our family's illustrious lineage."

"Perhaps it would help to explain that my mother was a woman of the clan known as Tendo," Tachi inclined his head, "Would that be a problem for you?"

"Her name?" Touga said a bit sharply.

"Tendo Nabiki, before she married my father," Tachi replied.

"Interesting," Touga remarked, "I have heard of the lady you mention...but why do you avoid mentioning the name of your father?"

"Because...there might be a bit of controversy on that," Tachi replied delicately, "I would not wish to deceive a kinsman by lying."

"Admirable in itself," Touga replied, "But I grow more intrigued to hear the rest of your story."

"I would be honored to share with you, Kinsman," Tachi replied as he put his bokken away and resumed sitting by the others, "But perhaps you may indulge me with a minor favor. I have been away for some years and am not privy to what has been transpiring in the Home Islands during my absence. Perhaps you might care to enlighten me? I would be ever so grateful."

"Fair enough," Touga replied, "What would you wish to know?"

"For beginners, my Lord," Tachi replied, "How fares house Kuno? Are our lands safe and secure or are there tensions with our neighbors, and why must travelers through these lands be accosted by soldiers? I could understand your precautions if we are at war or..."

"We have had...difficulties with a certain rival faction, but that is of no consequence," Touga waved his fan to indicate that the subject was of only minor relevance, "I rule the land and our people in the name of the Shogun, and by his favor I have kept our clan well and alive in these difficult times. My father was a great man of renown and good repute and I try to act as I know would bring his memory honor...unlike my Aunt Kodachi, who of late has been the source of much controversy."

"How so?" Tachi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You have no doubt heard...rumors concerning her husband's recent untimely demise," Touga replied, "And that she may have acted to hasten his departure..."

"I know that Lady Kodachi is reputed to be an excellent apothecary," Tachi continued as he felt his way along in this conversation, "But that some believe her knowledge of poisons is far greater."

"It would explain much, would it not?" Touga slowly nodded, "So subtle is her art that it is said that a man could be dead and not know it for a month. It is but one of several reasons why I practice the utmost caution whenever she visits this castle. It is also said that she is a fine chef, but that her meals are to die for."

"An excellent policy, Kinsman," Tachi slowly nodded, "One can never be too careful in seeking a long life through a careful and balanced diet."

"Quite," Touga seemed genuinely amused as he said this, but then he resumed his serious manner, "I would invite you and your companions to stay and share a meal while you enlighten me about your travels to foreign parts. Tell me...are the Dutch still rattling their sabers and demanding to be allowed to sell their wares in our ports?"

"Have you ever known a European who didn't complain about something?" Tachi replied with a slight grin, "Tell me truthfully, Kinsman...who would you rather trade with, an Englishman or some other type of Gaijin?"

"The English have been our allies for more years than I like to count," Touga responded, "They can almost seem honorable, after a fashion, not like their colonies in the Americas, or those stuck-up, officious Germans."

"And what of the Russians?" Tachi asked, "Would you consider them better than, say...the French or the Spanish?"

"Tsar Alexander IV is an old man, dying without an heir," Touga snorted, "His dynasty is crumbling all around him, and the other European powers are salivating to pick up the pieces. King Ferdinand is a wily fox who may one day regain his long-lost empire...but as for the French..." Touga spat to express his displeasure.

"It is good to know that you are so knowledgeable about the world beyond the seas," Tachi remarked, "I have been to France, Germany, England and the Americas, and someday I may well travel to Russia, though there is no foreign land that compares with the Home Islands."

"Oh brother," Ryoma rolled her eyes, only to wince as Tarot squeezed her knee to gain her attention, then signified with her eyes that the auburn-haired Saotome was to hold her tongue and not make a louder protestation.

"Then I envy you for having the freedom to travel," Touga replied, "But I must insist on matters a little more immediate to hand. You have not yet introduced these visions of radiant glory who accompany you."

"You are quite right, Kinsman," Tachi replied, "I have been remiss. This is my cousin, Ryoma, who accompanies me in my adventures, and these are my ladies, Efreet, Carmine and Tarot. As for the very tall lady who rounds out the set, she is...my manservant's woman, a half-Gaijin who bears the name of Kenshiro Wanda."

"Kenshiro?" Touga frowned, "I recall that name from somewhere..."

"Perhaps you know my Uncle," Wanda spoke up, "He is known as Kenshiro, otherwise called the Fist of the Northstar."

"I know of him by reputation," Touga said evenly, then added, "You practice his Ryu?"

"I am a master of the Ryu," Wanda explained softly, "He who stands against me shall not long stand at all...that is the creed of our Ryu."

"An admirable philosophy," Touga noted, "Worthy of a Samurai. I shall have rooms assigned to you where you may refresh yourselves...and as I am given to understand that you did not bring any other personal belongings besides your traveling clothes, I will even have appropriate garments sent your way. That is all."

"My lord," Ryonosuke bowed as his lord made a short hand gesture, then he urged the others to follow his example as he backed away to the ricepaper doors at the rear of the chamber, never rising to his feet and always facing towards his Master. With a few awkward moments Tachi persuaded his companions to do likewise, only rising to their feet again once they were safely out in the hallways.

"This way, follow me," Ryonosuke urged them, and without further qualms the party continued to follow him, Wanda ducking often every time they passed a low-  
hanging doorframe or rafter. It was only after they were shown to a rather spacious room and left to their own devices that the party began to breathe easy, but even then there was a note of wary caution as they scanned their elegant surroundings, all too aware that they were effectively prisoners within the gilded cage provided by his lordship.

"Laying it on a little thick back there, weren't you?" Ryoma asked as she leaned close to her nominal "cousin."

"I was winging it mostly," Tachi turned to regard his companions then added, "[Does everyone here speak English?]"

There were several nods of ascent, including from Wanda, who signified that she at least could understand the language, if not speak fluently, so Tachi took this as his cue to continue.

"[Since we are allegedly tourists on a pilgrimage it would make sense for us to speak in a foreign language,]" the suave boy continued, "[In a place like this the walls definitely have ears, so what I want to say had best be spoken at the level of normal conversation. We are in a great deal of difficulty here, and I don't believe for a minute that our host was taken in by my explanations.]"

"[You think he's onto us?]" Ryoma asked.

"[Possibly,]" Tachi replied, "[But the impression that I gathered was that he is sufficiently intrigued by the novelty we present and is thus willing to play along to see what he can learn about us.]"

"[Makes sense,]" Minos grumbled, "[You could tell that guy had a lot more on the ball than your old man, though he's just as snooty.]"

"Ahem," Tachi eyed the larger boy with a distinctive hint of displeasure.

"[What I don't understand is why he's treating us so nice if he suspects us of being something other than your consorts,]" Carmine remarked with just a hint of genuine resentment.

"[Obviously his lordship takes great pleasure in flaunting his wealth while playing the part of the generous hostess,]" Tarot reasoned with a jaunty little smile, "[And he shares Tachi-san's father's roving eye and is no doubt intrigued with having such ladies of quality as ourselves as his guests.]"

"You mean he's a real playboy?" Efreet asked, then noticed the looks turned her way and said, "What?"

"[Honey,]" Carmine sighed, "[We're trying to speak in English here so that nobody who can't speak the language will be able to understand us.]"

"Oh," Efreet demurred shyly, "[Sorry about that.]"

"[What I don't understand is what we're doing here in the first place,]" Ryoma noted, "[Can't be a coincidence that we got plopped down on the edge of Kuno-  
san's doorstep, and just how long are we gonna be staying this time?]"

"[I have no idea,]" Tachi remarked, "[But I suggest we keep only playing it by ear until the time comes to be moving on. Good thing these people only have a faint inkling of what we can do in a fight, which is just enough to make them edgy but not enough to help them prepare effective counter measures.]"

"[Then perhaps it would be wisest for us to fathom what we have learned about our present circumstances,]" Tarot reasoned, "[I must say that I was impressed with the way you got him to open up about current events...though I have a sense that it was two-way probing matter.]"

"[You're definitely right about that,]" Tachi sighed, "[Because I'm sure I gave myself away at least a couple times back there. My kinsman can obviously assume a good poker face, but I could tell by the crinkling around the edges of his eyes that one or two of my responses were way off the mark and betrayed my ignorance about the culture.]"

"[So what do we know about this place, other than the fact that it looks like the set of a Kurosawa movie?]" Minos wondered.

"[For one thing,]" Tarot responded, "[They are obviously at a more primitive state of technological advancement. Those firearms they displayed were about a century out of date, if not longer.]"

"[Yeah,]" Carmine reasoned, "[And everything's a lot more traditional around here, like the Meiji Restoration never happened.]"

"[America is still a British Colony,]" Tachi mused, "[And Admiral Perry never paid us that visit. The European powers are still ruled by the Hapsburg aristocracy and Democracy appears to be only a footnote in their textbooks. Japan appears to be a lot more isolated, too, so my guess is that the Tokugawa Shoganate is still in power, but maybe not quite so insular since they appear to know about the world outside Japan's boundaries.]"

"[That Kuno guy also didn't flinch a muscle when you put on that display of Nampo,]" Ryoma added, "[I'm betting he's got some fancy moves of his own but didn't want to tip his hand about it.]"

"[So I think it would be safe to say that the history of this world is very different from what we remember,]" Tarot mused, "[And as such the status of women in this society is secondary to that of the men, so...for the sake of appearances I suppose we should continue with the pretence of being your concubines, Tachi-chan...which I'm sure your present lady love will not mind all that much. May I take it the same holds true for you, Carmine-san?]"

"Huh?" Carmine reacted, then narrowed her eyes and grumbled, "[Okay...just don't push your luck or expect anything from me, you got that?]"

"[Perfectly acceptable,]" Tachi reassured her with an affable smile, "[I happen to like my neck in the shape it is in, thank you.]"

"[In the meantime,]" Tarot grinned with a salty look in both Ryoma and Carmine's direction, "I'm for investigating what sort of attire his Lordship deems proper for a lady of breeding. Care to try out some traditional kimonos, Ryo-chan? Or perhaps you might like to show off for our benefit, Carmine-chan?]"

Carmine glared at the blue haired Sorceress and grumbled, "[Don't you push it, lady...]"

"[Oh pooh,]" Tarot pouted, "[You're not still upset about what happened at the bath? I should think we were both adult enough to be able to put aside any mutual misunderstandings for the sake of the greater good, ne?]"

Carmine was about to give an acid retort when Wanda suddenly moved a hand and struck one of the floorboards, then withdrew her hand dragging a costumed figure out into the open, which she held at arms length and displayed to the others. The figure was dressed as a Ninja, only smaller and more slender than a normal human build, and writhing up a storm like a wild, untamed thing that snarled and spat in the white haired woman's direction.

"I thought so," Wanda remarked matter-of-factly as she reached out to remove the mask of the struggling Ninja, "I dislike unwelcome ears intruding upon a private conversation."

The mask fell away, revealing an almost feline face of elfin beauty beneath a shock of bristly hair that shimmered in the light of the room like an iridescent rainbow of colors. A pair of eyes much larger than an ordinary girl's fixed on Wanda as the form briefly ceased its struggles, and then a sly grin crept upon the young girl's face as those eyes took upon a feral, almost predatory look of calculation.

"You..." Ryoma blurted out, forgetting to speak English, "You're one of those Ninja we met before in the forest..."

The girl ignored Ryoma entirely and instead twisted her body with almost impossible dexterity, wrapping herself around the arm of the giant Wanda and slipping out from her robe like an eel shedding an outer layer of skin. Too fast for Wanda to react the girl moved like a scampering creature to latch herself onto Wanda's back and hold herself there in such a way that the larger woman could not reach her.

"Is Pretty white-thing, clever-clever to sense Minx when she is prowling," the girl spoke in a rapid, clipped tone of voice, "Impress his Lordship you will, much delight your body."

"Let me go!" Wanda declared, finding it all but impossible to get a grip on the slender girl who shifted about her position and easily avoided the giant's girl's attempts to dislodge her.

"Wanda-san!" Minos declared as he tried to come to the aid of his lady, only to find that the swift moving Minx was even harder for him to grip than a shadow.

"Boyo want save Big Stuff, is very heroic, big romance stuff," Minx chirruped like a delighted chipmunk, "No catch Minx, but you try harder!"

Minos tried to do exactly that but instead he found himself stumbling forward into Wanda, whom Minx had suddenly let go of after pushing in his direction. The large boy and larger woman fell to the floor together while the multi-hued girl nimbly landed on her feet and poised herself above them.

"Now you make nice-nice together," Minx declared, "Is fitting for a couple."

"What the heck is she?" Ryoma gasped, spotting a girl who was even shorter in stature than her own cursed form.

"She's toast, that's what!" Efreet declared as she leveled her key-staff at the Ninja, only to find Carmine's hand gripping her shoulder.

"No wait!" Carmine hastily declared, "You want to take out half the castle? We have to do this without resorting to overkill."

"I wasn't going to fire full-force on her," Efreet pouted.

"No," Tachi stepped forward, "But there's no need for us to resort to violence. She's obviously working for my kinsman and the last thing we need to do is tick him off any more than we already have!"

"So you think we should try diplomacy instead?" Ryoma asked.

"Couldn't hurt," Tarot shrugged, "But keep in mind that exposing the face of a Ninja is-in certain circles-considered a dishonor. Her clan might not approve of our choice of tactics."

"Minx no care about that," the strange girl now wearing nothing besides a wrap about her upper body and groin area, "Just want to have fun, and you look like you fun to play with."

"Fun?" Wanda reared up to her feet again, gently setting a stunned Minos to one side, "I'll show you what fun is!"

The giant girl took a swing in Minx's direction, but again the smaller girl easily side-stepped the lunge and with an ease that would do credit to a contortionist and wove her body around Wanda and got in close to where their faces were almost touching.

"You cute," Minx chuckled with pixie-like glee then tapped Wanda between the eyes with the tip of a long-clawed finger and stood pleasantly waiting as the giantess rolled up her eyes and tumbled backwards.

"What the hell...?" Ryoma unslung her battle-spatula.

"She took her down like she was nothing," Tachi sounded no less appalled by this than his "nominal cousin."

"Indeed," Tarot considered the point carefully, "There is much more about her than meets with a cursory examination."

"Is she dead?" Carmine blinked, then answered her own question as she sensed the heartbeat of the giant woman still beating like a hammer, "No...she stunned her somehow...but...?"

"You want play with Minx?" the girl jauntily smiled in their direction, "This fun..."

"MINX!" a voice barked sharply, causing heads to turn in time to see a pair of shadows detaching themselves from one of the wall-panels, "That is enough mischief out of you! You bring shame to our Lordship by your actions."

"And who are you?" Ryoma asked as she studied one of the two black-clad Ninja-  
like figures.

"I am a servant of my Lordship," the man replied, and undid the mask concealing his features, "My name is Kurunei Xandar, son of Sasuke and Master of the Odata Turtle Clan...and this is my lieutenant, Kuonji Yuriko, at your service."

The other figure undid her mask and revealed a face of surprising beauty beneath long brown hair done up in a ponytail. The young woman bowed her head and said, "Please forgive my clan sister...she means well but is not very disciplined in her behavior."

"Interesting," Tachi mused, "Sasuke...I remember your father...from when I was a boy. He was kind to me...once."

"Indeed," Xandar replied somberly, "He was."

"Kuonji?" Carmine looked from the Ninja girl to Ryoma and back again.

"Heh, small universe I guess," Ryoma noted.

"Tell me something," Tachi spoke as if resuming his role as a visiting noble, "Is it customary in this castle to have House retainers spy upon your guests?"

"Forgive us," Xandar said, "But these are difficult times, we must take every precaution for both the safety of our lord and for you, his guests."

"Believe that it was never our intention to intrude," Yoriko added, "We meant you no harm...but Minx...well...curiosity has always been one of her strongest virtues."

"Minx." Carmine murmured, "Somehow that fits her."

"I could think of a few other words myself," Efreet noted in a soft grumble.

"I suspect that she is a foundling," Tarot mused as she regarded Minx, "Though I have my suspicions as to the nature of her actual ancestry..."

"No harm was done, other than to the dignity of my companions," Tachi noted, "Provided they recover in good health, I see no reason to further pursue the matter."

"We thank you for your indulgence," Xandar bowed, "We will trouble you no further. I will have a servant attend you and fix the damage to the floor, and then you will not be further troubled until such time as you are summoned by my Lord, the Daimyo."

"Come Minx," Yoriko urged, extending her hand in the rainbow-haired girl's direction.

"Aw...it was just getting fun," Minx grumbled, but skittered across the floor and joined the other two Ninja, who then departed as silently as they had entered.

"Well," Ryoma remarked, "That sure proves this place is as weird as the Nerima we know."

"Wanda-san?" Minos asked as he recovered at that moment, then he hastily took her by one hand and patted her wrist, "Wanda-san, are you all-URK?"

The woman's other hand had automatically shot out to grip him by the windpipe, but then recognition came back into Wanda's eyes and she relaxed her hold, "Sorry about that...it was reflex."

"No problem," Minos wheezed as he massaged his throat to insure it was still intact and his larynx was not broken.

Wanda sat up and looked around then said, "Where did she go?'

"Never mind that," Tachi hastily urged, "The fact is that she is gone and won't be soon returning...I hope."

"Pretty formidable for a little thing like that," Ryoma noted, "Got some pretty good moves if she could take down the Fist lady."

"If I see her again...we will see about that," Wanda rumbled darkly.

"I'm sure we are all very impressed that you are not a woman with whom to be trifled," Tarot murmured soothingly, "But for now...I think another bath would be in order...and a hot one this time."

"Yeah!" Ryoma said with enthusiasm, "I can sure go for that!"

"I...think for the sake of diplomacy...that you had better remain female for the present, 'Cousin,'" Tachi urged.

"Oh man...do I have to?" Ryoma winced, "I didn't like the way that Kuno guy was looking at me..."

"You think I did?" Carmine countered.

"Ah...well, no..." Ryoma blinked her eyes then frowned, "He was looking at YOU? That pervert...!"

"I think we should continue to act as if nothing were untowards until further notice," Tarot counseled, "At least until we have a better sense of our terrain...or we warp out of here like the last time."

"Makes sense to me," Minos shrugged, "But I ain't letting my guard down as long as we're in this stupid castle."

"A sensible precaution," Wanda averred, then smiled as she added, "But...perhaps there are advantages to this situation...and we could perchance pick things up where we left off?"

"Ah...hah?" Minos blinked his eyes and adopted an almost comical expression.

"You can have the first bath," Tachi noted, "The girls can have it after you...all save you, Ryo-san."

"Huh?" Ryoma blinked, "Why me?"

"You're a guy when you take a hot bath, stupid," Minos growled, "And I'm sure your lady friends would just love that!"

"I have a better idea," Tarot suggested slyly, "Minos and Wanda will bathe together, and then the rest of us will do so as a group so that Tachi may chaperone the rest of us in order to keep things peaceful. By mutual consent we will all remain civil while you other two stand guard for our sakes and see that we have no more...unwanted intrusions."

"That almost makes sense," Carmine grumbled, "Why am I worried...?"

"Hey, C'mon guys," Ryoma urged, "We're mature Martial Artists, right? What could go wrong if we bathe together?"

There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone glanced her way, and then Ryoma herself winced and looked away before saying, "Okay...so it was a dumb question..."  
"My mother always said that there are no stupid questions," Tachi reasoned, "Only stupid people who have to ask them and thus tempt the wrath of the heavens."

Perhaps those words would not have been quite so unsettling or disturbing for the group if it had not been for the rumble of thunder heard faintly in the distance...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Views from the 13th Level: shadowmane

What could go wrong? (Only a Saotome would ask that!) The other timelost youth currently staging a rage on a certain dark citadel are asking themselves that selfsame thing even as the dark hordes close about them and they grow ever nearer to the heart of the present crisis. Be with us next time for, "Raid upon My Parade," or "The Skies are the Outer Limits!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	15. Chapter 15

RanCubed14

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

Chapter Fourteen.

X

Continuum # 68743219

Roll Call:

Lylac Tendo Ekko Daitokuji Tenko Masaki Veil Morisato

"Now this is very odd," remarked Washu as she studied her display readings, "This phenomenon tracks past our continuum on several close parallel levels, but the ultimate convergence point is always the same, 87219654 on the Multiversal Reference Yggdrasil measuring system."

"How odd," Veil remarked, "That is near to the fringes of what we know of as relative space, beyond which exists an entirely different set of timelines whose relative focus leads the Earth into a very different set of time vectors."

"In other words a world where people like us are a rarity and history proceeds along a somewhat less eventful direction," Tenko reasoned, "But other than that, what is so significant about that timeframe?"

"That is the sixty-four million yen question," Ekko noted, "Beyond question it is the place where your sister has traveled with our somewhat reluctant guest, but this specific timeframe seems significant for several reasons, not least of which is that its quantum flux readings are unstable, and the mass constancy readings are twice what would be considered normal for a variable of Earth."

"And that's bad I take it?" Lylac asked.

"You got it, Girlfriend," Washu replied as she continued to work the controls at her console, "I'm refining the imagery now...and bingo, we have a winner! Calling up the specs now..."

An image appeared of a ovuloid-shaped object hovering in space surrounded by an envelope-like atmosphere while the Earth itself hung to one side like a distant blue marble. There was a menacing look about the object as it hung out in the cold and sterile ether, and when the visual imagery was raised to a higher resolution it in no way improved its appearance, for the shape of a dark human skull took form grinning like a macabre mockery of all that was humane and decent.

This skull-shaped visage won immediate recognition as several gasps were heard all around, and then Tenko broke the ensuing silence by murmuring the word, "Nemesis..."

"Or a close relative of that Dark Planet anyway," Washu noted, recovering from her own surprise as she further worked her controls to further sharpen her readings, "It's not exactly like that orbiting Dwarf Star that exists outside of the Sol system, more like its evil kid brother. It's orbiting around the Earth at roughly twice the orbital radius of the moon, which appears to be circling both bodies in an elliptical pattern...or maybe I should say that all three objects are orbiting one another? Only a few kilometers across from pole-to-  
pole...definitely has a mass equal to that of the Earth itself...which means that the surface matter is just a covering surrounding the core, which is entirely composed of a Neutronium shell that is itself encircling what I make out to be a Class Four Dwarf Star...a star that's verging on becoming a black hole. This doesn't look too good, people..."

"I should say not," Ekko agreed with enthusiasm, "That core reminds me a little too much of the center of an Atom bomb...and the composition of the planetoid itself would suggest a Hydrogen bomb...but I sense anti-protons seeded throughout the mixture, and that would imply an Anti-Matter bomb...but even there I do not perceive this to be the limits of its design function."

"You mean it's a bomb?" Lylac blinked, fathoming what she could from the fragments that she did understand of her best friend's diagnosis.

"An extremely powerful bomb at that," Veil explained, "If it contains both matter and anti-matter, then it has the potential force of a thousand super-  
novas...but for what purpose?"

"Other than taking out a good sized chunk of the surrounding space for a hundred parsecs blast radius?" Tenko suggested.

"You definitely got that right, Kiddo," Washu remarked, "But Ekko is right in saying that it doesn't just stop with Anti-matter. That surrounding envelope of matter is dimensionally unstable...and that means this bomb could potentially be a Time-Bomb in a very literal sense! If a thing like that were to go off it wouldn't just render space uninhabitable on that particular continuum but it would branch out to affect all of the surrounding Parallel Earths in countless other directions!"

"A Time-Bomb?" Lylac blinked, "You've got to be kidding!"

"I wish I were, but I'm afraid it's serious," Washu assured them, "It's surrounded by a heavy protective shield that's keeping it out of synch with normal timespace, so it probably wouldn't even be visible were it not that my equipment is the best in the Universe. I can't really penetrate that shielding, but I am able to obtain this image by a series of calculated scans that have produced the data results that you see displayed before you. I've run triple checks to confirm these results and there is no doubt about it, that thing has obviously been fashioned to be a weapon of ultimate doom and destruction. When-  
-and I mean WHEN and not IF the thing goes off-it will generate so much energy that it will utterly annihilate the entire system and create a rolling wave that will travel forward and backward through time, totally destabilizing everything in that sector of the Cosmos!"

"Rather like one of your inventions, Grandmother?" Veil asked.

"Hell no!" Washu snorted, "If I'd designed the damned thing it would be a whole lot more efficient than to simply erase a single planetary system from Quantum Reality. Whoever designed this thing had only the crude intention of destroying just one target while leaving the rest of the Universe relatively intact. That means whoever did this has it in for humanity, a pretty limited objective when you come right down to it..."

"Perhaps I shouldn't be one to make too fine a point of it," Ekko remarked, "But you are aware that if this thing does explode it could well destroy our continuum as well as a few million others...which would be rather inconvenient."

"I was beginning to wonder if anyone besides me was going to ask that," said a somewhat nervous Lylac.

"But I don't understand," Veil remarked, "Who would do such a thing? And how could they get away with this without us being aware of their activities?"

"A good point that," Washu paused with a serious gleam in her eyes before she started entering in a new series of instructions to her console, which caused another set of parallel readings to appear in the air beside the menacing dark planet.

"Oh dear," Tenko observed, "Does that mean what I think it does, Grandmother?"

"I'm afraid so, Kid," Washu replied with unusual sobriety, "No life readings emanating from the Earth in that Timeframe. The entire surface is devoid of life...not even bacterial readings...as if all life energy had been leached away, leaving on a sterile and lifeless world in its absence."

"How horrible," Veil shuddered, "Who would steal the life from an entire world...and for what reason?"

"Unfortunately, I can think of a few too many reasons why someone might steal life from a planet," Washu remarked, "And a few too many players who at one time or another had the will or opportunity to cause a disaster such as this. The problem is that only a relative handful would have the means to fashion such an evil thing...and even fewer who would do something so suicidal as to go to all this trouble."

"I can think of one party in particular who would create such a thing," Ekko noted, "The Wise Man...the living embodiment of Nemesis itself."

"But...wouldn't destroying the Sol System also mean destruction for Nemesis?" Lylac pointed out.

"Hmmm..." Washu pondered, then added in some more instructions, causing the image of the skull-shaped planetoid to shrink down to the size of a marble, then hung besides the larger shapes of the Earth and the Moon, all three objects moving about one another in a strangely complex pattern.

"Oh my," Veil said, "That looks a bit like the nucleus of an atom..."

"I think I see what you are getting at, Grandmother," Tenko remarked, "The pattern of these three orbits has a geometric significance, and if the explosion were timed in just such a way under the right astronomical conditions..."

"Blamo!" Washu made a dramatic gesture of planting one fist into the palm of her other hand, "A controlled chain reaction forms a wave of destructive energy that is perfectly calibrated to leave Nemesis relatively untouched. The Death Star would not only survive the resulting maelstrom, it would thrive on the death energies released and become more powerful than ever. Hell, it might even elevate the Wise Man's spirit to near-godly levels, allowing him to reshape a cosmos. This definitely doesn't look good, girls...if anything it looks to be a major power play where Nemesis takes out everything else on a million timeframes!"

"So much energy released...horrible!" Veil exclaimed with a slight shudder.

"Hey, we're not going to just sit here and let this happen, are we?" Lylac asked.

"Quite right," Tenko agreed, "We are going to do something about this aren't we, Grandmother?"

"That may pose a difficulty," Ekko cautioned, "Getting to that world may be a problem...and if the shields surrounding that planetoid are as strong as you say they are, Grandmother..."

"No go, Kid," Washu replied, "That field is too strong even for me to penetrate at this range... hold up a moment! I'm picking up a faint reading...almost like a pinprick. Somebody did manage to penetrate the shield...somebody using a great deal of power in one focused concentration. It was just wide enough to afford a momentary transfer...multiple signatures signifying a group transfer. Whoever did this must have had absolutely precise aim and timing, not to mention a great deal of force to back up their play."

"Can we use this to our advantage, Professor?" Ekko inquired.

"I think so," Washu mused, "It may be possible to duplicate the penetration effect, but it will take me a few minutes to set it up, and I'll have to wait until I get the right frequency modulation. Until then, I'm afraid Ryeka and her new playmate are going to have to fend for themselves...but it looks like they'll have company..."

"Ranko I'll bet," Lylac murmured, "She's probably out gallivanting around the Multiverse like the last two times I got drafted to help her."

"Now then, it wasn't all so bad the last time, was it?" Tenko smiled, "We got to meet up with some interesting counterparts, including a version of my sister who's engaged to marry a counterpart of yours..."

"And we found a place to visit that had splendid hospitality," Veil added, then paused before adding, "Oh my...I wonder if there are Miroku Ninja on this world whom we could visit?"

"One can only hope," Ekko smiled, giving Lylac a leer that made the latter girl feel suddenly very nervous, not to mention warm under the collar.

"Just keep those teen hormones in check for now, kiddies," Washu urged, "And be ready in case I can work the transfer point open...then we'll see what we can do to help things out. After all, it's not like the world is going to come to an end, right?"

Four sets of eyes focused in her direction and the redheaded super-genius made a face, "That was a joke girls...geez, give me a break! Aren't us geniuses allowed to amuse ourselves without everybody getting so grim and moody?"

"That all depends," Ekko replied, "On your concept of appropriate humor."

"Better concentrate on what you do best, Grandmother," Tenko said charitably, "And leave the comedy to the professionals."

"Oh my," Veil blinked her eyes, "You mean she was only jesting about that?"

"See what we mean, Professor?" Lylac nodded meaningfully in the demi-goddess's direction.

"Unfortunately I do," Washu grimaced as she went back to her console, grumbling under her breath, "That's the trouble with you kids...no appreciation for your elders."

"How is that, 'Little' Washu?" Ekko smiled in a suggestive manner.

"Cheeky," Washu snorted, but she managed to conceal a wry grin as she was feeling particularly maternal at the moment, even as she held back a slight shudder of dread as she thought about sending these children off into danger once again, knowing that to do otherwise would be to risk complete and utter catastrophe. How much like their parents were these children, and in that she could take pride in the part that she had played in shaping their characters. Even so she was feeling a strong urge to accompany her granddaughters in their quest to save all existence...even if the experience of non-being might prove interesting...after a fashion.

With those thoughts in mind, the self-described Mad Genius went to work at crafting a miracle, which was something in which she had a great deal of practice, hoping that whoever else was working on their side as a hidden ally knew what they were about or it might be a one-way trip she was arranging, a thought no serious parent could relish, though she would do her best to even the odds in their favor. To do otherwise was simply not to be contemplated...

Continuum # 87219654

Dark Citadel,  
(Pocket Limbo-Like Dimension)

Roll Call:

Ranko Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Akane, Anything Goes Ryu Sayo Sanosuke -Daughter of Ranma and Kasumi, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Hiroshi Honsamu -Son of Maki and Takai of the Dark World, Exorcist Lyn Reikou Kuno -Daughter of Tatewaki and Freya, Valkyrie in Training Kachima Tendo -Daughter of Ranma and Nabiki, Apprenticed Lore Master Shanma Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Anything Goes Ryu Mace Saotome -Son of Ranma and Shampoo, Anything Goes Ryu Ganymede Kuonji -Son(?) of Ukyo and Makoto, Senshi in Training Kinko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Akane, part-time Angel Adam (Michael) Saotome -Son of Ranma and (?), Cyborg Eve (Moira) Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and (?), Cyborg

"What the hell are these guys?" Mace asked as he and the others formed a defensive ring with the bridge at their backs and a horde of loathsome shapes pressing in from all sides and winding up the trail leading down from their side of the canyon in both directions.

"The Undead, I believe," Kachima replied, "Their animating force is negatively charged, and you can see from their bodies that they have sustained substantial decomposition."

"They feel like Youma," Ganymede noted, "Be careful not to touch them with bare skin, their flesh could be like poison."

"Oh swell," Shanma said nervously, "Like...how are we supposed to fight these guys without touching them?"

"You guys bring any weapons?" Kinko glanced around then said, "What...nobody here ever learn Hidden Weapons techniques?"

"I believe that I may supply the answer to that," Kachima remarked, making a motion with both hands and then passing along a pair of Nunchaku to Shanma and their brother. She made motions with her hands again and summoned up a staff for herself and handed a pair of Tonfa to Kinko, who accepted these without question.

"Fine," Ganymede smiled, "But don't bother with me...I have my own weapons."

He raised his hand with an outstretched pen and summoned up a radiant light that momentarily caused the loathsome hoard to flinch back in dismay as the transformation came over him, and then Ganymede stood revealed in his Senshi identity clutching a short bow in one hand with a quiver full of arrows magically appearing from behind his body.

"Neat trick," said the Cyborg named Adam (or Michael...he still was not certain about which name properly befit his current identity), "But Moira and I won't need any special weapons...we come complete with our own."

"Check," replied Eve/Moira, "All systems at full operational levels, combat systems engaged, ready to initiate defensive mode A-79."

"Affirmative," Adam responded and with together they assumed defensive crouches.

"HEY YOU GUYS!" a voice hailed from their backsides, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING STANDING AROUND THERE? THE BRIDGE IS OVER THIS WAY!"

"Ranko?" Kinko turned around with a disbelieving expression, having already recognized the fiery redhead from before the attack of the Drolgar.

"We know this," Kachima replied, "But presenting once back to the enemy hardly seems a prudent course of action."

"Makes more sense than standing around facing Drolgar," another strange girl's voice called out, "You can take as many down as you like, their numbers are still legion!"

"Besides," a male voice added to the mixture, "If they're anything like the people of the Dark World, then they won't be that easy to kill."

"Hey, don't tell us how to fight," Shanma risked a glance over one shoulder while keeping her battle senses at the ready, "And who the heck are you guys anyway?"

"The name is Saotome Ranko," a girl who looked and sounded so frighteningly much like her father that Shanma had to blink and nearly dropped her guard for a critical instant, "And I've got more experience at this stuff than you guys, obviously, so get a move on! We'll hold them back until you get across."

"No," said a surprisingly calm-voiced brown haired girl in samurai attire, who casually walked past their ranks and took a stance at their forward center, "I will hold them back, the rest of you can cross."

"And who the heck are you?" Mace wondered.

"Sanosuke Sayo," the girl replied, her stance and expression inhumanly calm and relaxed in the face of the shambling undead warriors that were now advancing towards her, "Of the clan of Saotome."

"Saotome?" Ganymede glanced at the girl, then at Ranko and another odd man standing beside a woman with strawberry blonde hair, then back again to Sayo before exchanging glanced with a much-confused Shanma.

"Yeah, it's kind of a long story," Ranko shrugged, "I guess some of you guys are Saotomes too...welcome to the club."

"Are you sure you want to do this alone?" the blonde asked Sayo.

"I will manage," Sayo replied with astonishing calm, "This is what I was trained for."

"But..." the dark haired man in the priestly robes started to say when the dark warriors attacked in a rush, having overcome their fear of the light that had been summoned by Ganymede's transformation.

Almost beyond belief the girl named Sayo stood her ground, and then suddenly she exploded into full motion and dark warrior shapes went flying in all directions.

"Holy...!" Mace reacted in astonishment.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu," Kachima expressed in awe, "And a full master!"

"Wow, look at her go!" the strawberry blonde haired girl exclaimed as she watched Sayo throw herself into the fight with an enthusiasm and speed all but unknown in a mortal.

"She's a Saotome all right," Ganymede mused, then drew his bow and said, "But it wouldn't be sporting to let her have all the fun," and with that he took careful aim and fired off arrows into the ranks of the Drolgar.

Those arrows struck like cannon fire, a single bolt taking down whole groups of the dark warriors and by this means he was able to decrease the advancing numbers of the enemy, giving Sayo more time to pick and choose her targets so that not a single one got near enough to her to be a bother. Her sword was in near constant motion, and wherever she struck an enemy went down or was sent flying as though struck by a massive hammer.

"Frigga take this," the blonde haired girl declared as she called up an ornate-  
looking spear into her hand and leaped into the fray, chanting a bloody war-  
ballad as she laid about with her weapon.

"Wow," Mace gawked, "She's real enthusiastic!

"Guess that means we should all pitch in and help," Shanma reasoned, only to hear Ranko sharply contradict her with a snort.

"Forget that!" Ranko said, "There's no end to those bloody buggers, and the longer they delay us here the greater the odds that they'll eventually overwhelm us. Better if we get across that bridge now while those three hold them off, that way we can save our strength for taking out the REAL menace!"

"That sounds surprisingly logical and clearly thought out," Kachima regarded the redhead with a wry look of amusement, "Are you sure that you're a Saotome?"

"Sounds more like she's a chicken to me," Mace snorted.

"Chicken?" Ranko snorted then squared her stance and brought her hands together, concentrated intensely and summoned up her Chi before crying out, "MOKO TAKABISHI!"

The force she released was enough to stir up the hair of her companions even as she aimed her blast to strike at an area where the enemy was most concentrated and far enough from her allies so as not to be a problem. The blast hit home and decimated the ranks of those heading up the trail, even causing an avalanche that buried scores of others and made the passage there less passable than before, causing the enemy advancing towards them to slow down to a momentary trickle.

"Whoah," Kinko remarked, "You're sure gotten a lot stronger in just a day since I last saw you, Ranko-chan."

"It's been three weeks for me," Ranko shrugged in reply, "Timetravel's like that. I've gotten lots of good pointers from sparring with my Dad and Uncle Ryoga."

"You were saying something about her being a coward, little Brother?" Kachima said in mild amusement.

"A lucky shot," the blue haired boy grumbled.

"She's a Saotome all right," Ganymede observed as he nodded towards Ranko.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Shanma eyed him with suspicion.

"It runs in the blood, Beautiful," the she-male smiled grandly, "You never could stand it when somebody called you a Chicken...kitty."

"Look, we don't have time for socializing," Ranko insisted, "Now...I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you're mother was Shampoo, right?"

"How did you know?" Shanma blinked.

"Lucky guess," Ranko sighed, "Guess you could say that the two of us are half-  
sisters. And you...you've gotta be my Aunt-slash-Momma Nabiki's kid..."

"A very astute estimation," Kachima inclined her head and added, "And you are the daughter of my Aunt Akane, Kinko-san's half-sister by our Aunt Ukyo...am I correct?"

"Uh...yeah," Ranko wondered why the other girl made her feel even more nervous than when she saw her adopted mother practicing her craft as Lore Master, "Look...we'd better take this inside now before those Drolgar guys get a chance to regroup in greater numbers."

"They are not strong warriors," Sayo observed as she and the Valkyrie-clad girl came up to join them, "But you are right...in larger numbers they can be quite a problem."

"Quite a handful you mean," the strawberry blonde girl rested on her spear and said, "Name's Kuno Lyn Reikou, at your service. Now, if everybody here's on a first-name basis, I suggest we high-tail it over that bridge now before we get hit by their second assault wave."

"What second assault wave?" Mace countered, pointing at the pile of stones that covered one half of the roadway, "You think a bunch of dead guys are gonna get over that?"

"Well...actually..." Hiroshi started to say when a sound like the groan of the legions of the damned filled the air, and as they collectively turned their heads to watch they saw another avalanche descending the side of the cliff-face, only this time composed of hundreds of Drolgar descending the steep wall as though heedless of physical danger, and enough of them landed on the path itself in order to form credible ranks while their luckless brethren went tumbling off into the canyon. A second wave came charging down the other half of the trail with fewer stones to impede their rapid progress, shambling though they were at a pace far slower than a living man could manage.

"You were saying?" Ganymede murmured.

"Let that be a lesson to you, Kid," Lyn Reikou remarked to a nearly expressionless Mace, "Never try and second-guess a Valkyrie when it comes to anticipating a battle."

"Ain't exactly afraid of getting killed are they?" Kinko winced.

"That seems to be the problem," Kachima replied, "They're already dead...they have no lives to risk losing."

"Swell," Ranko arched her voice and barked out as if giving an order, "DO I HAVE TO SAY THIS TWICE, GUYS? GET MOVING TO THAT BRIDGE, PRONTO!

Meanwhile the two Cyborgs known as Adam and Moira were only just then making their own assessment of the danger, having stood off and observed the battle for a time once the first wave had ebbed, and now calculating the odds of surviving a second encounter.

"It does not look good," Adam remarked, "Moira...we had better stay with these others and try to remain functional for as long as we're able."

"How sad this seems," Moira remarked in a strangely wistful voice, "We're not much better off than those poor wretches coming at us..."

"Not true," Adam replied, "We're still alive, still together and still able to fight, and as long as there is even a chance of coming out ahead, we won't be taken down by these...Zombies, Sis."

"I am with you," Moira somberly nodded, and together they moved closer to flank the less guarded side of the party as Ranko led the way across the bridge leading to the castle.

"I don't like this," Kinko grimaced as she clung to the wooden ropes that formed the bridge railing, "I'd rather fly across on my own power. If only I had some water to transform myself..."

"You need only to ask," Kachima said from behind her, extending a hand that caused a congealing mist to form, and a moment later it surrounded the party and effected the transformations of those who had curses.

"Hey!" snarled Shanma as she felt the fur break out all over her body, "What was that for?"

"My apologies, Sister," Kachima replied, "But I had a thought that you and Mace would be needing the extra talents of your other selves very shortly."

"Swell," griped Ranko-kun, whose body mass had nearly doubled, causing the bridge to sway a bit more under his slippered feet.

"Great!" Kinko grinned as she flexed her newly regained wings to give her better balance on the wood bridge, "Now this is more like it!"

"Glad somebody's happy about this," growled Mace, who wondered why it was that he never had to shave at any other time than when in his cursed form.

"They're almost halfway across," Lyn Reikou noted as she hung back with the others so as not to overbalance the bridge by placing too much weight on it all at once, "We're next up, so be ready."

"But..." Hiroshi tried to properly frame a protest as he watched Sayo and the Cyborgs form a defensive wedge that fended off the initial rush of the Drolgar, her slender form in constant motion as she avoided the attempts by the Undead warrior to lay hold of her all-too-human body.

"No butts, Romeo," Lyn urged, "The moment I say 'Charge' you book or I'll drag you with me, you got that?"

"But..." Hiroshi started to say when he saw Sayo stumble backwards, momentarily off-balance as one fallen Drolgar had seized hold of the end of her skirt and was impeding her momentum. Several more were lurching forward to take advantage of the opening and their combined weight alone was certain to claim the valiant Samurai unless someone did something to stop them.

Without a moment of hesitation Hiroshi shook off the Valkyrie by his side and brought his hands together, chanting a hasty, "RIN-CHIU-DOH-RETSU-ZAI!" and thrust both palms forward, conjuring up a storm of needle-like crystals that shot out from his hands in a spray, missing Sayo completely while engulfing the Drolgar.

Those tiny crystals were charged with positive life energy, so when they struck the negatively charged Undead bodies it caused a reaction similar to foaming acid, dissolving decaying flesh and causing the enemy to melt away around the astonished Samurai whom they were attempting to overwhelm. Sayo blinked her eyes as she stared about at the grisly remnants of these monsters then turned a questioning look towards Hiroshi, who sighed in return, relieved at being able to make use of his priestly and Dark world talents.

Unfortunately there were yet more of the dark warriors lurching forward, a shambling tide that seemed to cover every inch of the path leading up to the trail, with quite a mass of crushed and compacted bodies serving as a buffer for yet more warriors who were descending down the cliff face. Their number truly did seem limitless and against such odds even Sayo's formidable sword skills were not likely to prevail.

Fortunately the Cyborgs were just as aware of the danger and had an immediate (if temporary) remedy in the form of their hidden weapons. Both opened their mouths wide and spat forth ruby fire that sliced through the ranks of the advancing horde like a hot scythe through butter, mowing them down by the scores and bringing relief to the battle-weary defenders.

"Okay now," Lyn Reikou announced as she glanced back over the bridge, "They're through to the other side. Second group follow me, and that goes double for you, Handsome!"

"But..." Sayo protested as she saw the dark haired boy being all but physically dragged off behind the strawberry blonde Valkyrie girl...and for some unfathomable reason the young Samurai felt vaguely annoyed about that. She turned back to view the renewed ranks of the Drolgar, which were pressing ahead over the smoldering bodies of their comrades.

But even as she contemplated making a stand she heard the male Cyborg say, "You go on ahead...Moira and I weight too much, we'd overbalance you on that bridge."

"We will cover for you while you make your way across and follow after in our own manner," Moira herself assured, "But go now and do not look backward."

"But..." Sayo started to protest.

"You are human, and that means your life is precious beyond measure," the male Cyborg smiled at her in an almost friendly manner, "Don't throw it away when you have others who care about your future. Moira and I are better suited to this type of battle anyway, and you would only get in our way, so go now and be well...little sister."

"Yes, GO!" Moira urged, "And remember the name you carry in your heart is Saotome!"

"I...Arigato," Sayo bowed, then turned and headed for the bridge as fast as her wooden sandals would allow her.

Ranko-kun was first across the bridge and scanned both ways for a possible welcoming committee. When none materialized before his scrutiny he was about to relax when instinct warned him to turn his line of sight sharply upward, and sure enough there was a massive stone that was coming down upon their head, crashing down with the force of doom behind it. Ranko instantly calculated the danger and knew what to do as he thrust his hand forward and cried, "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!" projecting his Chi with the thrust so as to double the effectiveness of the exploding point so that the brunt of the force would be entirely projected upwards.

To those just a few steps behind him on the trail the sudden appearance of the crushing fifty-ton block of stone was as daunting as it was unexpected, but when the force of Ranko-kun's blow hit the rock it pulverized it completely, sending every bit of stone and gravel skyward without transferring the kinetic force onto the ground, which might well have destabilized their end of the pathway. Ranko followed up this massive display of his prowess by cycling his hand and projecting Hot and Cold Chi up through the column, transforming it into an instant Hiryu Shoten Ha that captured all the bits of stone and dust before they could settle over the party and carried them off in a spiraling whirlwind.

"WHOAH!" Mace exclaimed, this time not bothering to hide how impressed he was by this display of Ranko's achievement.

"You definitely have improved, Sis!" Kinko grinned enthusiastically as she flapped her wings with pleasure, "Think you can teach me how to do that?"

"Maybe later," Ranko said as he turned around and saw how many of their party had made it to their side of the path, and how many had yet to make the crossing, "Better be on the alert in case we get any more unpleasant surprises.

Kachima halted in mid-stride as she took in the sight of the now-male Ranko and for a moment she seemed to forget herself in a rare display of emotion, saying softly, "Oh my...that's your cursed form?"

"He looks a little like Pop," Shanma blinked her eyes, "Ah...well, sort-of..."

"Hardly surprising," Ganymede observed, "And this definitely confirms that he's your half-brother from another dimension."

"Oh yes," Kachima nodded faintly, if a bit sadly, "No question about that, he is our...brother..."

"Huh?" Mace turned to examine the young Lore Master and said, "You feeling okay, Sis? You sound a little funny..."

"Never mind that," Kinko pointed back the way they came, "Look there! We got more problems!"

"Eh?" Ganymede followed the gesture of his half-sister and saw a black curtain momentarily blot out the sky, descending like a wave towards the bridge across which the rest of their party was attempting to make passage. Lyn Reiko and Hiroshi were close to their side of the gulf but Sayo was almost in the middle when the black curtain of night reached them, resolving into the shapes of a thousand tiny winged monsters, roughly like bats but having the characteristics of insects.

"HOLY...!" Mace exclaimed.

"Anything but, I'm afraid," Kachima countered.

"What the hell are those things?" Shanma declared in mingled disgust and horror.

"Nothing good I think," Ranko declared, powering himself up again in preparation of another fierce Chi-blast.

Hiroshi felt the tide of darkness descending even more than he could see it and sensed that his present companion was equally aware of the danger. His eyes naturally went back to the beleaguered Sayo, who had not a prayer of getting across the bridge before the insect-things could reach them like a literal plague of locusts. Sayo was clearly aware of the danger, however, and paused long enough to ready her defenses. When the wave did descend her sword was out of its scabbard and weaving a pattern that virtually made it seem as if an invisible curtain were surrounding her, striking the insect tide and battering it away. It was uncertain how long she could keep up such a pace but her speed was superhuman and she struck at her attackers with unrelenting effort.

Hiroshi had not been idle during all of this and instantly chanted a defensive spell, erecting a psychic barrier around himself and the young Goddess beside him so that the insects were deflected before they could find their target. Hiroshi had the impression that these creatures had mouths, unlike regular insects, and were salivating with the urge to devour human flesh like piranha stripping a carcass, and the thought of what they could do to the likes of someone like Sayo literally made his skin crawl as he felt his Dark half rearing up in outrage. The part of his nature that he kept well hidden was threatening to come to the fore in the face of this dark challenge and it was all he could do to keep a right reign over the birthright that he had inherited from his mother.

Meanwhile the Cybernetic twins had cleared the way about themselves and could now spare their attention towards the new source of peril. The insects tried to claim the both of them but were repelled at the last second as both Adam and Moira radiated an electrical curtain around their bodies, frying anything foolish enough to attempt to make contact.

"This isn't good," Moira remarked after a few intense moments of crackling electrostatic discharge, "We're depleting our power reserves faster than we can regenerate the power. If we keep this up for too much longer..."

"Affirmative," Adam acknowledged, "Maintain reserve power, go to direct feed and let them have it. We'll save enough to escape with when an opening happens."

"Acknowledged," Moira agreed, and with the flexing of her arms she popped out a pair of wicked scythe-like blades that extended to her sides like a pair of wicked looking wings, "Initiating Dervish mode. Care to dance with me, dear Brother?"

Adam flexed his own arms and produced twin blades that-if anything-were even more deadly looking than those of his sister, "I thought you'd never ask, Sis."

And with that they leaped into full motion, laying about with wicked slashes that were perfectly coordinated and entirely lethal to insect or Zombie that was luckless enough to come anywhere near them.

Shanma savagely snarled as she laid about with her Nunchaku, battering away anything that got within the scope of her reach. Mace was doing likewise even as Kinko plied both wings and Tonfa to deadly effect, the former giving her extra leverage with which to fight even as the insects tried in vain to bite her. Ganymede had transformed his bow into a Caduceus-like staff and had empowered it with his Senshi energies so that it glowed with golden fire as he flashed it here and about cutting into the maelstrom of insects. Kachima's wooden staff was nearly as effective as the Lore Master chanted spells while weaving about in graceful, dance-like motions. Ranko fought without a physical weapon, but his fists were glowing with Chi-force and had the effect of twin hammers smashing down anything that tried to come within arm's reach. He moved with Amagurikan-like speeds to pulp as many insects as he found find, but the dark tide just kept on descending and it was clear that the pace they were setting was not one that could be sustained for the long haul.

But even as the insect horde seemed on the verge of beating down their defenses, a sudden wave of force stretched out over their heads and formed a curtain that intercepted this concentration of insects and disintegrated them en-mass as though someone had waved a giant wand and wished them all away. For a moment the curtain echoed and reverberated in the air and then it was dissipated and banished, leaving only drifting ashes in their wake.

"Did we come at a good time?" a familiar female voice inquired.

"Yeah," an equally familiar male voice said, "Is this a private party or can anybody crash it?"

"POP!" came simultaneous cries from Ranko, Shanma and Mace, while Kachima lifted and eyebrow and said, "Father?"

"Young lady," Nabiki arched her voice and said very precisely, "What have we told you about running off on your own and playing with strangers in stranger neighborhoods?"

"Aw, Mom..." Ranko-kun scuffed a foot on the ground and looked like any body who had just been scolded by his mother before his comrades.

"Mother?" Kachima arched an eyebrow as she glanced from Ranko to Nabiki and back again.

"Pop, you won't believe what we've been going through today!" Mace complained to the mature and hardened looking version of his father, "And...hey...what's with the leather look? You in disguise or something?"

"Pop?" Ranma arched an eyebrow and glanced from one eager, inquisitive face to the other.

"Why is it, do you suppose," Nabiki asked archly, "That I have this distinct impression that if you were to do a paternity test right now that you would definitely hit the Jackpot?"

"Hey, it's not like it's my fault or nothing!" Ranma protested, then paused as he saw the droll, sardonic look his wife gave him, "Well...okay, maybe in a way it is, but still..."

"Mother," Kachima mused as she approached, "Stop teasing Father...you know it's not his fault that he's irresistible to women."

Nabiki locked eyes with the brown haired girl who much resembled her, then rolled her eyes to the heavens and murmured, "Thank the Kami, at last! One of mine!"

"Pop," Shanma eagerly spoke up, "What are you and Momma doing here? For that matter how did you get here, and do you know how we can get back to the dojo?"

"Ah..." Ranma looked into the entirely feline face of both a daughter and a son whose paternity was well written in their features, then paused to say, "Excuse me for sounding dumb, but ain't your Momma Shampoo? I mean, Nabiki's pretty talented, but I don't think she'd hide a thing like that from-OW!" he winced as his wife none-too-gently punched him his forearm.

"I believe the answer to that is obvious," Nabiki turned to look from Kachima to Shanma and then to Mace, "A group marriage...both myself and a certain Amazon, and from this threesome some interesting fruit has blossomed."

"That would be a mild way of putting it, Mother," Kachima replied with an all-  
too-familiar sardonic smirk that caused her near-equivalent father to blink his eyes in amazement.

But just as they were about to further explore the issue, Kinko spoke up and said, "Hey guys! That Samurai girl looks like she's in trouble!"

"Sayo-san?" Hiroshi declared as he turned to look back to where he had last seen the valiant swordswoman, and when he saw her still standing he felt his heart skip a beat, but then he got a better look at the condition of the bridge upon which she was still standing and felt the blood in his veins turn to icewater.

"Uh-oh," Lyn Reikou declared, "Don't look now but I think that bridge is about to...never mind!"

Even as she spoke those words the badly frayed ropes holding the bridge began to snap like rotten twine, and Sayo-who did not seem too steady on her feet at the moment-began to sway a bit just as the floor gave out from underneath her.

"SAYO-SAN!" Hiroshi cried and acted without conscious thinking, stretching out a hand as his vision seemed to tunnel down to where he saw only her and nothing else in existence. The others, however, saw what looked to be an impossible feat as that arm snaked out from the sleeve of his priestly robes and coiled down like a striking serpent to close around the wrist of the faltering girl and catch her before she could tumble off into oblivion.

Unfortunately that arm lacked sufficient strength to reel her in with similar miraculousness, so instead she tumbled within his grasp as though suspended by a rope and was headed for the cliff-wall with what was certain to be bone-jarring impact. To their amazement, at nearly the last second, Sayo came back to herself and turned her body about so that her feet were braced in time to meet the cliff-wall. She dangled there as Hiroshi began to stumble, only to be gripped in kind by a quick-thinking Lyn Reikou, who helped to brace him as he spread his legs wide and grit his teeth from what looked to be an enormous effort on his part.

"Whoah," Ranma remarked, "Now that's what I call giving a girl the long-arm treatment...OW! Would you stop doing that, Nabby?"

"Only if you can curb your lamentable habit of punning," Nabiki retorted with a patently false expression of mock-sternness, the effect of which was spoiled by the way the edges of her mouth curled upwards.

"Do you need help?" Ganymede asked of Hiroshi.

"No thanks," the dark haired boy replied between his teeth, "I think I've can manage this part for myself."

And-sure enough-he was able to retract his arm, drawing Sayo up the side of the canyon even as the frayed ends of the bridge waved like tattered cobwebs. With some assistance from Ranko and Shanma, Sayo was able to climb up onto the ridge and stagger slightly forward, favoring one leg that was partially exposed to view where her dress had been torn by the insects.

"Here," Kachima knelt down before the girl as the others set her down, and then the young Lore Master began a cursory examination, "I am not the healer that my sister is, but I believe that I can help you...yes...as I suspected...you sustained several bites and I believe your wound has sustained an infection. Nothing too severe...a spell of healing and exorcism will suffice."

"Let me do that," Hiroshi said as he flexed his arm and examined his hand as he wiggled his fingers.

"How is the arm, Sport?" Lyn Reikou asked.

"A little stretched, but it's already feeling better," Hiroshi replied as he knelt down before Sayo, who was looking at him with a mixture of wonder and gratitude in her beatific expression. Hiroshi found her brave little smile at contrast with the awful black marks of the wound that he discovered, but he steadied her nerves and fell back into the discipline of his training. Healing people was something that he did best, but rarely had he performed upon a patient who had come to mean so much to him in such a short time of their being together. It took some effort to calm himself so that the healing energies could pour forward, and then he laid his hands upon the wound and began to purge it, neutralizing the poisons while his spirit did combat with the evil that lay behind them.

"Who is this guy?" Mace asked as the others hung back and watched from a respectful distance.

"He says his father's human and his Mom hails from someplace called the 'Dark World,'" Ranko shrugged, "You ask me it sounds like he's part demon, but it looks like he's one of the good guys."

"Thank the powers for that," Ranma sighed, "I can do a little bit of healing myself, but it ain't my specialty. I'm more the kind of guy who turns people into patients."

"Indeed, patience never was one of your virtues, Ranma-kun," Nabiki mused before glancing up at the sound of wings beating down from above them.

"YO THERE!" hailed a jaunty-voiced Vixen who appeared like a slightly older version of Lyn Reikou, "Y'all lose a couple of strays during that big fracas?"

"Mom?" Lyn Reikou spoke up as a giant winged cat descended with a couple of stray Cyborgs being suspended from its forepaws. The big cat set down even as the Cyborgs landed beside them, then from the back of the huge animal the Goddess of Love and Battles herself vaulted lightly.

"Lady Freya?" Nabiki asked.

"What are you doing here?" Ranma asked, "We told you we'd find your kid and bring her back."

"Now don't get all uppity with me, Sugar," Freya cautioned, "I warned y'all that I wasn't the type to sit back home and leave all the fun to you freeloaders. Well now, I do declare that this is some kind of an assemblage...and unless I miss my guess I'd say you were overdue a few father's day cards, or maybe I should just say...congratulations."

"Funny," Ranma snorted, only to find himself suddenly confronted by the two Cyborgs.

"Father-you're alive!" declared Adam.

"Father...how did you survive?" Moira asked, "We thought you were dead...you were hit so many times by all those bullets...how..."

"Bullets?" Ranma arched an eyebrow, "You mean somebody tried to take down Saotome Ranma with a bunch of GUNS?" he sounded royally offended.

"This does sound like quite a story," Nabiki mused, "But think it would be best told somewhere else, preferably a long ways away from this mausoleum."

"Bad news, Sugar," Freya shook her head in regret, "The way in here was one-  
way...I followed your lead when you transported in through that needle-hole, but the damned thing closed up behind me and damned near came close to turning my sweet Sunshine into a Manx."

The large winged cat made a plaintive noise and twitched its tail in apparent agitation.

"You mean we're stuck here?" Ranma asked, "Terrific."

"We were drawn here, Sir," Ganymede replied, "Someone or something clearly wanted to bring us to this time and place...but why and for what reason?"

"That is the operant question," Kachima mused, "Unfortunately even I cannot seem to gather sufficient clues to answer that one...what of you, Mother?"

Nabiki arched an eyebrow as she studied the younger girl, then shook her head and replied, "I fear even my senses are baffled. There is something about this place that suggests a great and looming evil, and at the core of this world lays a heart of ultimate darkness. Something tells me that leaving this place intact would not be a very good option."

"I guess then we'll just have to take it up with the landlord...right Pop?" Ranko asked her father.

"That's my usual MO," Ranma replied as he glanced around, "Of course I'd really prefer to do this one solo. Can't quite cut loose full power with too many innocents who could get hurt in the crossfire."

"You don't need to worry about us, Pop," Shanma said with real enthusiasm, "We can more than hold our own in a fight."

"Not the sort of fighting I do, Kids," Ranma found it odd that he could look into a face that looked so much like a cross between a certain Amazon and the animal he once feared beyond all reason. And here was another example of that much-dreaded species yawning and stretching its wings, and he not even showing a twinge of his Neko-phobia.

"Might I suggest we get this shindig started, before the Landlord decides to get nasty?" Freya indicated the gaping wide maw of the cavernous gates before them.

"Not a bad idea at that," Nabiki noted, "Only question is...do we go as a group or break up into teams and keep things simple?"

"I'm not too keen about splitting the teams," Ranma said, "But smaller groups usually are more effective...and besides, that way we can do more damage."

"I'm with you on that, Pop," Ranko agreed, "But if it's all the same, I'd like to stick close to you and Mom...just in case."

"Then I'll stay with the rest of the kids, Sugar," Freya remarked, "Besides, ain't nothing like a little Mother-Daughter bonding while stomping on the bad guys."

"Oh Mom," Lyn Reikou remarked, but nonetheless was smiling.

"What if anybody else shows up?" Kinko asked as she glanced at Ranko, "You know how guys are always popping up out of the woodwork."

"Tell me about it," Ranko said, "Guess we'll just have to make room for anybody else who decides to join the party."

"You must throw some interesting parties," Adam remarked, but he and Moira seemed content enough with the matter.

"I feel better now," Sayo reassured Hiroshi, "Thank you."

"Are you sure?" Hiroshi asked as he helped the girl regain her footing, as anxious as if he thought she would fall into his arms again at any moment.

"Yes," Sayo smiled as she glanced at Ranma, then Nabiki, "Besides...my family needs me, I will do my best not to be a burden."

"Kid," Ranma smiled, "You couldn't be a burden to me if you tried. Your mother would be proud if she could see you now."

"Thank you, Father," Sayo smiled a smile that somehow made the world seem a little bit brighter.

"Shall we?" Nabiki asked, extending her arm towards her husband.

"My pleasure," Ranma said as he took that arm, and together they led the way into the citadel of darkness...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Census Taking for Alternate Universes: shadowmane

The rest of the gang takes a break at Castle Kuno, but do troubles brew on their horizons, and what of the other Timelost kids converging on the scene of evil? Will the combined might of Ranma and Nabiki be enough to tilt the odds in the favor of their children, or is this going to be one seriously F**cked up situation? Stay tuned for the next time in, "Be True my Lovelies", or "The Rain and Pain falls Mainly in the Saotome Veins!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	16. Chapter 16

RanCubed15

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

WARNING, FULL LEMON ALERT!  
CONTAINS SCENES OF A GRAPHIC AND SEXUALLY EXPLICIT NATURE INVOLVING CARTOON-BASED CHARACTERS DESCRIBED TO BE ENGAGED IN SUGGESTIVE AND LURID SITUATIONS

Chapter Fifteen.

Intimate Relations

Time Patrol HQ Nexus of Time

"Confirm on that, Sir," Ryonami reported, "The Phenomenon is definitely a Class Twelve localized phenomenon composed of a Deuterium-rich Anti-proton outer shell surrounding a hollow Dwarf Matter sphere that contains a Proto-Dark Star verging on the brink of being a full blown Black Hole. We are looking on the equivalent of a Chronological bomb capable of wiping out a good chunk of reality as we know it, possibly triggering a chain reaction that could collapse the entire continuum..."

"And that's where we just transferred Saotome and Saotome," Supervisor Windsor fatalistically noted, "Terrific. We should have just sent agents Kei and Yuri and made it official."

"I'm sure Ranma and Nabiki will have everything in hand, Sir," Ryonami assured him, "Those two tend to work miracles when they're together, and that's even before they got married."

"They also tend to blow the hell out of everything they go up against," Windsor complained, "And in this case that is DEFINITELY NOT a good option!"

"You have to send me there, Sir," Ryoga volunteered, "I may be able to help them out..."

"Not possible at the present...in a manner of speaking," Ryonami reported, "The insertion point we used before has closed...I am unable to make calculations of when the next one will manifest. For the time being we are effectively cut off from communications with our Agents in the field, so it looks like the Boss-lady and her husband are going to have to fend for themselves for a bit, which is kind of the way they like it..."

"Somehow I don't feel reassured at all," Windsor remarked, "Without a leash to yank Saotome back we could be facing the biggest mother of all calamities that ever existed. Hell, Existence itself may not be an issue for very much longer..."

"Sir," another monitor reported at her station, "We've just been contacted by the High Council of Galifrey. The Time Lords are expressing extreme interest in these unfolding events and wanted to notify us that they are sending one of their agents to personally investigate."

"Who?" Windsor asked.

"Exactly."

"That's just terrific," Windsor rolled his eyes, "As if we don't have enough problems, now we're going to be engaged in a turf war with the Galifreyans!"

"I should have gone with them," Ryoga fretted, "Ranma and Nabiki may need me!"

"Well, not to make too fine a point of it," another Monitor Technician remarked in a too-casual manner, "But those multiple temporal signatures that we've been reading for the past hour seem to all be converging on the same point, so it's likely that there will be another opening in a little bit, and if we time things just right we may be able to send Agent Hibiki in to back up his partners."

"Make it so," Windsor sighed, giving said agent a wry look, "I don't see how it could hurt at this point, and you may even be the only guy who could reign in Saotome if he reverts to his usual Kamikaze patterns."

"I'll do what I can, Sir," Ryoga reassured, "You know I'll always be there for Ranma."

"Just don't get lost in the timestream this time," Windsor turned and addressed the second Monitor again, "Have you been able to reach Derek yet?"

"No sir," the technician replied, "I've only been able to reach his voice mail address...he appears not to be in at his stronghold."

"Really?" Windsor frowned, "That is curious...I wonder..."

"Sir," Ryoma spoke up again, "I'm getting a temporal spike on Continuum # 74968231...we may have movement at any second."

"Better get to the transfer tube and be ready," Windsor advised Ryoga, "This could be a split-second thing, so be ready to shave it close."

"Understood, Sir," Ryoga replied as he was already moving to the transfer tubes in question, "I'm always ready."

"I know," Windsor murmured to himself, "And for some reason that's got me worried..."

Continuum # 74968231

Roll Call:

Ryoma Saotome -Son of Ukyo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Inaho and Mosquiton the Vampire, 1/8th Vampyr Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Shampoo and Konatsu, Mage/Wicca in training Tachi Kuno -Son of Nabiki and Tatewaki, Nampo Kendo Ryu Efreet Mizuhara -Adopted daughter of Ifurita and Makoto, Demon-Goddess Minos Tarot -Son of Kasumi and Pantsaru, Shotokan Ryu Wanda Kenshiro -Daughter of Ranma and Aila, Fist of the North Star

Touga Kuno -Son of (?) and Tatewaki, Daimyo, Kendo Master Ryonosuke Senzenen -Son of (?) and Makoto Senzenen, Family Retainer Xandar Kurunei -Son of Kaori and Sasuke, House Ninja Yoriko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and (?), House Ninja Minx Tendo -Daughter of Akane and a Wood Sprite, Changeling Ninja

Ryoma was in his own personal Hell of the moment, a Hell that most men beside himself would envy. It was not that he found his companionship unpleasant, it was simply the way the two girls perched at either of his arms were laying a claim to his person that was making him more than a little nervous.

Carmine sat to his right and fumed at Tarot, who smiled back in a languid manner from where she was nestled in close to Ryoma's left arm, her head upon his shoulder as both hands were ominously caressing him under the water. It being a warm bath he was naturally in Male aspect, so now he had the most uncomfortable position of being the bone of contention between two very-much interested wildcats, one sultry and suggestive, the other territorial and predatory.

"Can't we all just get alone here?" he found himself asking aloud as if he feared the outbreak of hostilities would strike at any moment.

"Why, whatever do you mean, Ryo-chan?" Tarot cooed pleasantly as she traced the outline of his fanny with one finger, "We're all just being friendly here...no reason for us to quarrel...eh, Carmine-san?"

"Yeah, right," Carmine snorted back as she kept a firm grip on Ryoma's manly chest, alert and on the defensive in case the Witch tried anything in her presence.

Ryoma looked pleadingly across the length of the large bath to his lifelong friend, Tachi who also was bathing naked with a nude Efreet all but glued to his own chest, resting her silky-dark head of hair on his manly shoulder. Tachi silently gave a "What do you expect me to do about it?" look of sympathy back Ryoma's way, which was as tacit a statement that they were both in the same boat as could be made without the use of flash cards.

"This is so nice," Efreet purred contentedly, "Usually it's just Carmine and me giving each other back-rubs, but having you here is just swell, Master."

"Ah..." Tachi had a dubious expression on his face, as if wondering just when the Android had decided that he was indeed her Master.

"That's right, 'Master,'" Tarot grinned, "Bathing together communally is a wonderful way to get to know one another...wouldn't you agree?"

"Ah...well..." Tachi glanced down at the beautiful girl in his arm and wondered at the strange feelings she awoke within him, feelings at total contradiction to what she had herself admitted regarding her artificial nature.

"Better not fight it, guy," Ryoma advised, "I think it's bigger between you two than the both of us put together."

"Er...well..." Tachi remarked, "We are trying to keep a low-key presence here...at least for a while before we wind up somewhere else..."

"In other words you still have doubts about yourself and your companion," Tarot mused, "I think you are not giving yourself enough credit...and your lovely lady-friend even less than she is deserving."

"I...that isn't fair," Tachi protested.

"I see," Efreet blinked, "You mean you still have doubts about me?"

"I...I didn't say that..." Tachi sputtered, wondering how he had let himself be maneuvered into this situation.

"Hmm..." Efreet looked thoughtful, then smiled and took Tachi's hand into her own under the water, "Here...let me show you something that ought to convince you."

"Huh?" Tachi blinked and then found his hand being guided by his lovely companion to a place that felt, warm, soft and entirely pleasant to the caress, "Oh my..."

"You see?" Efreet smirked, "Feels just like a real woman's, doesn't it? You can even put your finger in here...I don't mind it, really."

"Ah...honey?" Carmine started to worry.

"Hey, it feels nice down there," Efreet smiled, "You've got good fingers."

"Er...thank you...I think," Tachi swallowed, his eyes full of wonder.

"No need to thank me, Master," Efreet replied, "I'll do whatever you want of me...you can play with me all you like. I think my designers planned for me to be used this way, and it sure feels nice."

"But..." Tachi swallowed, "I'm not really your Master..."

"Heh, well..." Ryoma decided he couldn't resist twisting the knife on his childhood friend, "You are technically supposed to be her Master here, and since the rest of us are also supposed to be in some kind a Harem arrangement..."

"That isn't funny," Tachi growled softly, "And-no offense, 'Cousin,'-you're not exactly my type the way you are, know what I mean?"

"I'm hurt," Ryoma mock-pouted, "Throwing me over already? Men are so fickle..."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Tarot grinned, and with her other hand reached out to caress the sex-swapping boy under the water, deliberately cupping her hand over his qualifications towards manhood.

"Urk!" Ryoma got very round-eyed as he felt that part of his body stiffen at the silky-soft touch of the Amazon's strong fingers.

"Huh?" Carmine felt Ryoma's reaction and tried to fathom what the Witch had just done to get a rise out of him, then her eyes drifted down and she saw something poking its head like a snake out of the water, "HEY!"

"No need to shout, Carmine-chan," Tarot cooed, "If you want it so bad, then I'd be willing to share with you. After all...you've never done it with a guy before...have you?"

"Huh?" Carmine blinked, then in a voice a bit higher than before she said, "What's that got to do with it? And hands off him right now!"

"But Ryo-chan doesn't want me to let him go," Tarot pouted, "Do you, Ryo-chan?"

"Ah-Ah-Ah-" was all Ryoma could manage as Tarot skillfully gave him a hand-job that made him sink back a little in the water, the pressure within him making his rod as hard as iron.

"You see?" Tarot grinned, "He's like putty in my hands...but since you so obviously want to claim him for yourself, perhaps we might...negotiate for the privilege?"

"Negotiate?" Carmine snorted, "Get real! Now let him go or else...!"

"Wow, that looks like fun!" Efreet said cheerfully, "Let me try it!"

"Huh-what...?" Tachi began stammering when he felt Efreet's hand awkwardly reaching for his own male organ and all at once laying hold to it as though she were preparing to yank on a rip chord.

"Not so hard," Tarot urged the Demon Goddess, "Men are very soft of fragile there...you have to be gentle."

"Oh...sorry," Efreet apologized, then noticed the oddly puckered expression on her male companion, "Are you okay, Master?"

"Ah...well..." Tachi felt relief at having her grip relax on his manhood.

"Here," Tarot let go of Ryoma (much to the latter's relief and embarrassment) and floated over to Efreet, taking the Android's hand and showing her how to curl it around Tachi's own manhood, "Hold him like this...and let your tactile sensors inform you of the pressure of your grip. Now...ease your hand over the shaft back and forth like this..."

"Oh..." Efreet exclaimed as she did as she was told and saw at once the shift in Tachi's expression, "This is easy...thanks!"

"We're only just starting out, dear," Tarot winked at the synthetic girl and said, "Now...let me show you something that will really blow his socks off. Follow me and watch exactly what I do, and then you can copy my moves and really bring pleasure to your master."

"Wait a minute...!" Tachi expressed in some alarm as he saw the blue haired girl take a deep breath then submerge her head beneath the level of the water, followed an instant later by Efreet, who wanted to watch things from under the surface. Tachi had no further time to protest as he found something warm and soft cup around the head of his male organ, and then he leaned back with a heartfelt groan and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling, his expression registering anything but a painful reaction.

"Oboy," Ryoma murmured with rounded eyes, staring at the dark mass of floating blue hair that signified to him what Tarot was doing, and immediately he felt sympathy for his alleged "Cousin."

"What the heck is she doing?" Carmine asked in confusion.

"You don't want to know," Ryoma replied, "Take my word on that."

Tarot and Efreet resurfaced a moment later, the former smiling at the latter and asking, "Think you've got it now?"

"Yeah," Efreet replied with enthusiasm, "It looks like a lot of fun, thanks!"

"Just remember to go easy on him," Tarot cautioned, "Avoid using your teeth and let your tongue ease the shaft in and out...and take him in gently between strokes, don't try to go all the way or be in any great hurry."

"Okay," Efreet replied and instantly vanished back down under the water.

"Wait a minute!" Tachi started to protest, "You don't have to-OOOoooHHHH!"

Tarot smiled and floated back to the side of Ryoma, "It does my heart proud to show a newcomer the ropes..."

"You mean to corrupt the morals of an innocent robot?" Ryoma asked suspiciously.

"Oh pooh," Tarot smiled back at Ryoma and touched him on the nose with the tip of one finger, "Are you jealous, Ryo-chan? Don't be...I was only helping Tachi-  
chan out, there's no need for you to feel neglected."

"I'm not jealous," Ryoma growled, though his expression went from irritated to amazed as he saw Tachi lean all the way backwards with arms braced to the side-  
rim of the bath, his face registering the most surprising range of emotions.

"What the hell did you do to my friend?" Carmine growled, "You've turned her into some kind of raging sex-fiend!"

"I hardly needed to do anything but guide her where she wanted to go," Tarot countered, "And you don't need to pretend to be so shocked and offended. I know perfectly well that you want to do the same thing with Ryo-chan here."

"I do not!" Carmine immediately protested.

"Hmmm?" Tarot gave the Vampyr a suggestive leer that as much as called her a liar.

"You...you're disgusting," Carmine grumbled as she turned away and pouted.

"Oh?" Tarot mused, "Then you don't mind if I screw Ryo-chan while you watch?"

"Do whatever you-HEY!" Carmine reacted in dismay.

"Ah...can I say something here?" Ryoma timidly asked.

"NO!" came the emphatic answer.

"Terrific," Ryoma grumbled, "I've become my own father..."

All at once a cry that sounded like a wounded moose giving vent to a sudden urge to imitate a coyote sounded out from the other end of the chamber that they were sharing, causing all heads to turn and look in that direction, including Efreet, whose head rose up from the water.

"What the heck was that?" asked the Demon Goddess.

"Off hand I would say that Minos-chan just got lucky," Tarot replied, "I rather thought that he and our mutual friend, Wanda, were looking a bit eager when they exited the bath."

"Well...about bloody time," Ryoma noted, "I was beginning to think he was never gonna make it with a woman."

"Let's hope this time nobody makes the mistake of interrupting them," Carmine shuddered slightly, recalling rather vividly what had happened the last time Wanda went on the rampage.

"An eminently prudent suggestion," Tarot replied, "So let's not interrupt them, shall we? Why don't we find something much more enjoyable to do with our free time, shall we?"

"Okay," Efreet turned back to Tachi and said, "Are you ready now? You seem hard enough to mount me."

"HUH?" Tachi exclaimed, "But...you don't have to..."

"Oh, it's no problem for me," Efreet smiled as she bobbed in the water, coming up to him and pressing her chest against his own, "I want you to feel the same way about me as if I were a real woman, Master."

"But...you don't need to do any-Oh my!" Tachi exclaimed as he found his face within inches of the Demon Goddess, and then he found his manhood being guided by one of her hands to something that offered only mild resistance, and with rounded eyes he found he was entering into the crescent garden of the all-to-  
willing Android.

Ryoma blinked, then under his breath murmured, "She works fast..."

"A fast learner," Tarot smiled, "I'm proud of that girl...she really is a sweet thing, Carmine-san. I can see why you like her."

"What?" Carmine blinked, not immediately catching on to the subtle meaning of that statement until she saw the shrewd way that the blue haired girl was looking in her direction, "Hey...wait! You're not saying...ah...well..."

"You have done it with her, haven't you?" Tarot persisted as Carmine began to blush solidly crimson, "Hardly surprising since she technically has regarded you all along as her true Mistress."

"But that's not..." Carmine protested.

"Oh, you don't need to explain yourself to us," Tarot smiled as she resumed her place at Ryoma's side, "Ryo-chan and I have also exchanged pleasures...and so has Ivory...though I'd hardly think that counts since she used drugs to have her way with you, right Ryo-chan?"

"Ah...well..." Ryoma hesitated.

"What, and you used magic to get him?" Carmine fumed.

"I should hardly have to resort to tricks to get a rise out of my Ryo-chan," the Sorceress replied, "After all, I'm not a certifiable loon like certain other parties we could both name, eh, Ryo-chan?"

"Well..." Ryoma reluctantly conceded.

"Hmph," Carmine glared at him, "And here I thought you weren't just another pervert..."

"HEY!" that comment sparked a flash of real outrage in the sex-crossed boy, "I ain't a pervert! I don't do stuff that's weird or shameful or anything like that! Okay...so I've done it as both a guy and a girl, but that's not bad or unnatural or nothing like that! Don't go calling me names, it ain't like I'm on your case for you being a Blood Drinker..." he paused, then said, "Ah...I...I didn't mean that like it sounded..."

"And what makes you think I care?" Carmine reacted as she started to get up with the clear intent of leaving the bath.

"Don't go," Tarot urged, "You know that you don't want to."

"AND WHAT THE HELL DO YOU CARE WHAT I DO?" Carmine whirled on her, "You've been on my case for as long as I've known you!"

"Which is approximately three hours and forty-four minutes, nine seconds so far, at least in linear time measurement," Tarot replied matter-of-factly, "Hardly long enough to form a permanent impression."

"Let me ask you something," Carmine glared at her rival, "What the Hell kind of girl are you? You call yourself a Witch and you throw your muscle around like those spells of yours were nothing..."

"Actually," Tarot explained, "I am a trained Amazon Mage, but I prefer to call myself a Witch for...specialized reasons. I am into nature worship and spiritualism as well as the direction of Higher Magics. I am attuned to my immediate surroundings and seek to work with the forces that are near to hand to achieve a result on both a spiritual and physical level, and of necessity I am honest with my emotions. I don't lie and prevaricate or hide from my feelings...I act on my emotions, and I don't waste time and energy in denial as you have been doing all morning. Now...sit down, Carmine-chan, and let us deal with the issue between us in a calm and reasonable manner. You want Ryo-chan as much as I do...that much is certain, and storming off like some little girl loudly denouncing him will not bring us any closer to a resolution."

To her own surprise, as much as to any other, Carmine did sit down, though why she was not certain. Her eyes reluctantly drifted towards Efreet and Tachi, who all this time had been involved in what looked to be a slow and building grappling session.

"And what makes you such an expert on everything?" Carmine growled.

"I'm not," Tarot replied, "I just pay more attention."

"Ah...well..." Ryoma shrugged nervously, "If you guys would just settle down and take it easy so we can talk like regular people..."

"You mean like a Witch, a Vampire and a sex-changing martial artist?" Tachi gasped from where he was barely visible beneath the bouncing figure of Efreet.

"Ah...like that...obviously," Ryoma said uncomfortably, his eyes drawn back to the sight of the dark haired girl bobbing up and down in the water with increasing speed and friction.

"How are you doing over there, Tachi-san?" Tarot smirked, "Is everything to your satisfaction?"

"Oh-yeah..." Tachi gasped, "No pain-no gain...!" and then he shuddered in a particularly telling manner.

"Ohhhhoooohhhhh-that feel so nice!" Efreet cried out as she rocked back and forth atop him.

"Oboy..." Tachi gasped, and then he threw his head back again and made a sound that was midway between a gasp, a whimper and a yell, even as Efreet began to shake atop him, and then made a noise of her own that sounded like a cry of joy more than any other tangible emotion.

The only difference was when she came the whole room began to shake, if not the castle itself, forces radiating from her body that seemed to cause the very air to quiver and vibrate!

It took a long while for both teenagers to come down from the heights of their mutual arousal, but at long last things started to return to normal and then Efreet looked down with a grin at Tachi, who stared up at her with wonder in his own expression. In a pleasantly chirpy voice she said, "That was fun, thank you, Master!"

"Ah...don't mention it..." Tachi said between heavy pants, "It was my pleasure...really..."

"That was almost as much fun as doing it with Carmine," Efreet turned to glance over her shoulder, "He's really good, and I could definitely get to like this...uh...Carmine? Guys? You guys all right?"

Blank looks greeted her inquiry, even Tarot seeming momentarily stunned by the effect created when the Demon Goddess climaxed. Efreet blinked her eyes and wondered why everybody was acting this way but was not so distracted as to miss hearing the boy beneath her say, "Almost as good as with Carmine...?"

"Oh...I didn't mean it that way, Master," Efreet hastily amended, "I mean...it's different from when I did it with Carmine...and it's really good! I want to do it again if you really don't mind it too very much?"

"Mind?" Tachi blinked, almost dismayed as he added, "Again...?"

"Okay," Efreet smiled, "I'll take that as a yes, Master."

"Oh my," Tarot mused, "I think I may well have created a Monster...'

"No kidding," Ryoma remarked, "Poor Tachi."

"She wasn't like this before we ran into you guys," Carmine murmured faintly.

"Oh right, blame it all on us," Ryoma huffed, "Like anybody would choose to have these sorts of adventures."

"Uh..." Carmine faltered, "I didn't mean it like that..."

"Oh, I don't know," Tarot mused, "I suppose from your way of looking at things that we must come across as a group of errant troublemakers..."

"We?" Ryoma arched eyebrows.

"Well..." Tarot amended, "Perhaps for my part I have been a bit...excessive in my zeal...but I think I am starting to understand you better, Carmine-san."

"Understand?" Carmine asked suspiciously, "Understand what?"

"The sort of person you really are," Tarot replied, "In a few hours time we have seen the best and worst that is within you, and I've come to a rather interesting conclusion."

"Which is?" Carmine hesitated.

"That deep down you really are a great big softie," Tarot smiled in an enchanting manner, "And for all that you have a darkness within you, you genuinely care about people."

"Ah..." Carmine was taken off guard by that sort-of compliment, and even more so when Tarot seemed to suddenly appear in the space directly before her with the blue haired girl's face only inches from Carmine's.

"You care about Efreet, even though she's not really human," Tarot remarked, "You feel a strong attraction to Ryoma-which is only natural, by the way, since even a Vampyr must have a pulse-and you obviously feel an attraction towards me..."

"YOU?" Carmine reacted, "Lady, you are seriously brain damaged!"

"Hey, even hatred and indifference can only be felt towards some object or person who incites in you an emotional reaction," Tarot replied, "At first I had my doubts about you, but you've put a great deal of that to rest. I now stand corrected for having doubted the sincerity of your intentions, so I'm willing to reward your patience in putting up with my teasing by letting you have what you have been wanting from the beginning...Ryoma."

"Huh?" both Carmine and Ryoma reacted in concert.

"It's quite simple," Tarot smiled as she slid around behind Carmine, who was amazed at the ease with which the Sorceress seemed to flow sideways through the water, "You want him as much as I do, and Ryoma has accepted you in spite of your having the blood of a Vampire. Since can control your urges, after a fashion, it would seem safe enough for the two of you to be together.'

She gave a push and Carmine found herself being propelled into Ryoma's arms, her knees folding as she landed in the space between his parted legs and falling onto his chest as Ryoma reflexively moved his hands to catch her. Carmine had only a moment to gasp as her eyes locked place with the boy who sat before her, and then Carmine felt the press of Tarot's body against her back and found herself trapped in the middle of a "sandwich."

"So," Tarot cooed into the Vampyr's ear, "What do you say to that, you two? Would you rather by-pass all the heart-ache and angst of a protracted soap opera, or would you rather get it on and save on all the bother?"

"Get it on?" Ryoma gasped.

"The...three of us?" Carmine repeated.

"Well, if you think three is a crowd," Tarot purred, "But don't expect me to bow out of the mixture."

"Oboy," Tachi remarked as he spared a portion of his conscious attention to see what progress his friend was making...the rest of him quite thoroughly engaged hanging on for dear life as his own romantic interest was busy bobbing up and down on his again-erect manhood. Not that he had anything to complain about, but he wondered why he was suddenly receiving a portion of Ryoma's usual easy fortune with the opposite gender (which gender that happened to be at the moment being an entire side-issue unto itself).

"Now listen here," Carmine growled, "Do you expect me to cooperate in a-AHHH! What are you doing?"

"Circumventing your argument, of course," Tarot cooed into her ear, "You were about to protest that you would not be going along with this merely because I suggested it...so I thought I'd give you something to think about before you leap to any hasty decisions."

"But what..." Ryoma gasped and looked down as he felt something caressing his chest below the surface of the water, and to his amazement he found that Tarot was cupping Carmine's bosoms and rubbing her nipples against his chest.

"Now doesn't that feel nice?" Tarot murmured, "I know the both of you are enjoying this...almost as much as I am."

"But...this..." Carmine started to say when she found herself losing her train of thought as new sensations were transmitted through her nipples to her body...and with a start she felt something poking up in the space between her thighs, something round and smooth but strangely unyielding.

"I know I must seem pushy and ill-mannered, trying to get you two together," Tarot continued as she slid her hands down to grip Carmine's hips and partially lift her out of the water, "But I really do think that I'm being an awfully good sport about this, considering that I'm only making it easier on you both, and I'm not making you do anything that you wouldn't choose to do of your own volition."

"Huh...wha...OOHHH!" Carmine exclaimed as she suddenly felt something push up against her groin area, something round and bulbous that a second pair of hands guided to her opening, even as skillful fingers plied about her clitoris. As Carmine only just began to register this she found herself being lowered down upon his shaft, which pushed into her loins like an oversized finger.

"Now..." Tarot mused, "Doesn't that also feel nice? I have to admit that there are few pleasures to compare with having Ryo-chan within me...though I am certainly willing to try a few new ones just to be certain."

"Wh-wh-what do you...?" Carmine gasped as she found herself being lifted a few inches, then lowered again so that Ryoma's organ slid partially out then all the way into her vulva. Impossibly she also felt Tarot's hands playing with her nipples, and then two sets of lips cupping each of her bosoms, as though not one person but three were taking possession of her body. Ryoma was staring up at her with a look of wonder, but also glancing at one Tarot whose face was nuzzling the Vampyr's neck while another Tarot stood to each side giving her breasts an affectionate licking.

And Tachi, who had been watching all of this take place with only a small portion of his awareness, had to blink his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing cross-eyed (the girl currently riding him being a sure cause of such a momentary dislocation of his optic centers) because it now looked as though there were not one but three Tarots all making out with the Vampire girl currently riding up and down on Ryoma. Even for Kenzan this was surely pushing the limits...

Meanwhile, as all of this was transpiring at the other end of the room, Wanda relented in her own efforts with the boy-turned-man who was her current object of obsession, giving an exhausted Minos a much needed break in which to recover his breath (among other euphemisms.).

"Oh my," Minos gasped, "Lady...you really are something..."

"I know," Wanda replied with a certain savor, "You're not so bad yourself either."

"Heh...well...I do my best," Minos chuckled softly, "I can't say I've had a lot of practice doing this...but...you're pretty inspirational."

"I do my best," Wanda replied in an affectionate mimicry of his own awkward statement, "I hope that I haven't seemed too demanding and forward to you...I was raised to believe that you should never hesitate to take what you want, that you never know for how long you may possess it."

"So...is that what I am to you?" Minos smirked, "A possession?"

"More like the spoils of a conquest," Wanda teased, resting easily on one arm as she stared down with great fondness upon the naked boy whose strength had done so much to bring her body peace, "But seriously, I do not know how long we will be allowed the time to do this together. We are from different worlds and may be parted at any time..."

"I know," Minos replied, turning his head to gaze up at the incredible naked beauty laying to his right side on the futon, "And I hope it doesn't come soon. It's been an incredible experience just meeting you...I never knew that there was anyone like you...in this world or any other."

"Well, now we both know," Wanda replied, "And I, for one, feel greatly enriched by the knowledge that there is one man who can satisfy and please me greatly. Perhaps on my world a man such as you still exists, but I have searched long and hard and have yet to find such a person..."

"I can't believe that there's no guy who'd be lucky enough to have a girlfriend like you," Minos said with dull wonder in his voice, "I can't believe that I'm the guy who's been lucky enough to have you for the first time."

"Then believe me when I say that the pleasure was all mine," Wanda assured him, sitting upright as she reached for the nearby teakettle to pour herself and her man a drink, then started to turn around to present the one cup to Minos's hands...and found a presence nestled rather unexpectedly in her lap, making herself comfortable as though resting her fluffy head against a pillow.

"Ah, this good life," purred the rainbow haired Minx, "High muky-mucks live good, share with guests, not like Minx have."

"Excuse me?" Wanda asked, one eyebrow twitching rather significantly.

"Uh oh," Minos sat upright, "What are you doing here?"

"Minx come tell that Kuno Lord want for dinner," the fuzzy-haired girl replied, "You come for dinner, or maybe come already with boy toy?"

"And what," Wanda rumbled dangerous, "Is it any business of yours?"

"Minx just ask," the fuzzy-headed girl sat upright and turned around to confront Wanda with a cunning smirk, "Big white furry-purry no be mad if Minx say she cute? Minx like you smell, is nice scent, could follow you through hailstorm."

Wanda considered her options, recalled that she was still gripping porcelain in both hands, and weighed that against the sudden urge to strike out against this fast-talking interloper who dared call her CUTE, even if the little runt was as fleet as quicksilver and as difficult to nail as a wisp of smoke in the breeze. She still had not forgotten the humiliation that she had suffered before at the clawed hands of this shimmer-haired Kitsune.

"Ah..." Minos knew that he had to act quickly before the situation before him turned explosive (in a very literal sense, and with him at ground zero!), and so he said, "Look...if you wanted to inform us that his Lordship wants us to come see him, you could have knocked."

"Minx know this," the sylvan girl replied with an elfin grin, "Just like say hi to Big Stuff, like these knockers whole lot," and with that she reached out and pinched both of Wanda's exposed nipples, tugging on the enormous breasts in a playful way, then tweaked them before letting them go in a snap.

Wanda's reaction was almost comical as for a moment her body reacted to this unexpected treatment of her still-highly-aroused mammary glands, but once she got over her shock, her expression went livid and the porcelain cups in her hands were shattered to powder, the hot tea being splashed in all directions.

"Why you-!" Wanda reached out for tiny, lithe figure, but Minx darted out of her grasp with a happy-go-lucky giggle, then paused to bow before saying, "Lord Mucky-Muck want you see him shortly, Minx see you there, bye now!"

And to their mutual astonishment the girl seemed to float right through the floorboards like a ghost, leaving Wanda in a towering rage, her fists clenched in fury as she panted like a hound that had just lost an elusive rabbit down a hole. Her eyes were almost glowing with emotion, and for a few instants even Minos found that face more than a little scary.

"Ah..." he ventured after the passage of several nerve-cracking heartbeats, "Guess that means that fun time is over?"

She turned to him, her expression inhuman with an almost demonic regard that promised VERY BAD THINGS to whomever wound up on her bad side. But then the moment passed and her lovely face regained its more sullen composure. Wanda took the better part of a full minute to calm down, but at last she said, "You are right...this achieves us nothing. As much as I am loathe to say, we must gird ourselves for a battle of a very different nature from that to which we are normally accustomed."

"If you mean we've got to dress up in fancy duds and hob-nob with his Noble Prick-ness, you're right," Minos nodded, "But that's the price we gotta pay for being heroes."

Wanda actually smiled at that, then regarded him fondly, "Thank you for staying by me...I know I can be a most...unpleasant sort when the rage is upon me."

"Naw," Minos shrugged, "You ain't that bad. Now my Aunt Akane...when she gets going she can be downright terrifying. Even my Old Man wouldn't want to go up against her when she's on one of her snit fests."

"It would be nice to meet your family," Wanda mused, "Having none of my own to claim, I suppose I would value them more than many another."

"Well...I think Dad would be impressed, and I know Mom would like you," Minos replied, "But why don't we save the flowery talk for when we're in his Lordship's presence? I've gotta feeling we shouldn't keep this guy waiting for too long, you never know what hidden surprises he might have up his sleeves."

"Agreed," Wanda rumbled, "Then...perhaps you may assist me? I have never dressed myself for anything like an official occasion."

"I...think I can help you out there," Minos smiled, "And I gotta admit, beautiful, I'm really eager to see what you look like in a kimono."

"I thought you liked me better the way I am," she teased.

"Ain't even a contest," Minos leered as he allowed himself to drink in the sight of her magnificent body. But then he blinked his eyes and turned his head to take in the sounds of a set of cries, shouts and mingled groans and protests coming from the partitioned end of the room that was contained the hot bath that he and Wanda had enjoyed less than an hour beforehand, and it did not take much in the way of imagination to figure out that Ryoma had once again succumbed to the cunning arts of an amorous Tarot.

"My," Wanda mused, "They certainly do seem to be enjoying themselves over there. It would be a shame to disturb them."

"Maybe," Minos allowed himself a wry smile, eyeing a nearby bucket as a plan formed in his head for some vicarious revenge against a certain Saotome, "On the other hand...this could be a real pleasure."

A moment later a bucket of ice cold water was poured over Ryoma's head, triggering his/her transformation and a yelp that caused a certain unseen observer to back away from his headphones.

"Oh my," Lord Kuno Touga remarked with a wince, "A pretty strong set of lungs on that one girl. I might have known a Saotome would be a key player among them."

"My Lord," Xander spoke from where he knelt on bended knee, "Forgive our clan sister for her hasty and imprudent actions..."

"Oh, think nothing of it," Touga waved the point away dismissively, "It was most amusing to see her getting a rise out of that giant. We have learned much about our visitors...it seems that they are even more interesting than I had previously estimated."

"How so, My Lord?" Ryonosuke asked from where he was standing beside his Lord, safely ensconced behind a silk painting that was actually a thick, one-way looking glass, cleverly disguised to avoid even close attention.

"That one boy is indeed a Kuno," Touga remarked, "I'd stake my life on it, but curious that he is traveling in the company of a member of the clan Saotome. My mother, were she here to witness this, would find this all so very confusing, but I find myself most amused by their antics."

"They certainly put on quite an intriguing show," Ryonosuke nodded, having enjoyed watching the activities in the bath almost as much as the incredible gymnastics of the rather large youth and the silver haired giantess.

"That they do," Kuno said as he set down his headphones, a marvelous invention recently discovered in Europe for the transmission of sounds through hidden speakers connected by wires laced all through the guest chamber, and given to Lord Kuno as a gift from one of his Foreign allies. It was the best thing to happen in the way of Espionage since the invention of the poison quill, and having survived more than his share of encounters with his deranged Aunt Kodachi, Touga knew which sort of intelligence gathering device he would choose to employ with guests who promised this level of intrigue.

"My lord," Ryonosuke ventured, "We know that these people are dangerous and formidable, do we dare to trust sitting down with them for a meal like honored guests?"

"You presume too much, old friend," Touga replied, "I will not have my hospitality be questioned. They shall be honored as befits such a colorful band of travelers, and then...I will choose my moment to spring the question that foremost in mind regarding my alleged 'cousin,' and this Jusenkyo-cursed Saotome. The others would rally to assist them should we choose a confrontational approach, so...we will observe the forms and do this in a properly civilized manner..." he turned his gaze towards Xandar and Yoriko, "I trust you understand the full implications?"

"We do, Lord Kuno," Xandar bowed in recognition.

"All shall be as you intend it, Lord Kuno," Yoriko acknowledged, then paused before adding, "And I will try to get Minx to cooperate this time. She seems to have formed a peculiar attachment to the Giant."

"So noted," Touga replied, using his fan to indicate his acceptance of the fact that this was a difficult assignment, "I ask no more of you than that you try and restrain her...foibles. Very well, then, we shall leave these charming people to their preparations. Have everything ready in the Great Hall, and no one acts without first receiving my signal."

"Hai, my Lord," came three simultaneous bows from his closest and most reliable of retainers.

Touga paused as he watched the two Ninja slip away into the shadows of the hidden corridor that connected to the booth, then spared a last glance to admire the glistening bodies that were even then emerging from the bath before their lovely qualities could be obscured by robes and towels, then chuckled softly to himself, "It's good to be the Daimyo..."

And-as it so happened-at that moment, Tarot happened to glance in the direction of a peculiar wall hanging that had been attracting her notice and wondered if her instincts were attempting to alert her to a hidden danger. She considered the point then shrugged her slender shoulders, deciding that the matter could wait as she had more interesting fish to fry...or console, as it were, as Carmine and Ryoma still seemed shaken and dazed by what had happened in the bath. Ryoma was back to being female, of course, while the Vampyr was still recovering from the strange experience of being embraced by a man at one second, then by a girl in the other, and that sudden withdrawal of a male member that she had been enjoying no doubt left the poor thing confused on more than one level.

Time to shift gears and ratchet back in her efforts at turning these two around in her favor. She had gotten their attention and that would be enough for now, and how they choose to react when they started to think clearly again would tell a greater story if Tarot was indeed embarking on the right course of action. If not...well then...she would try something else in her efforts towards securing a place within the heart of HER Ryoma.

Carmine was still trying to take stock of what had just happened, and-more to the point-why in the hell she had just blithely gone along and allowed Tarot to screw her. Er-well, actually it was Ryoma who did the screwing, but the point was still the same since the Witch had been taking most of the initiative in setting things up then taking full advantage of the situation. In plainest terms she confused the hell out of Carmine with her rapid shifts of mood and direction, one minute so hostile and antagonistic towards Carmine, the next so wry and cunning as she literally pushed Carmine and Ryoma together. By rights she should have hated the Witch for her not-so-subtle manipulations, but instead Carmine found herself remembering the feeling of Tarot's hands on her breasts and those lips suckling her nipples. There had been no haste or aggression in the way the Witch had handled her...and instead there had been tenderness and what seemed almost like genuine affection. Certainly nothing there to which Carmine could relate...

Well... maybe. That pretty much described the way she often felt towards Efreet, who could be na ve and vulnerable in ways that seemed totally at odds with the enormous power that was at her disposal. The Demon Goddess was her closest friend (and sometimes more than this) yet tended to see the world in rather uncomplicated terms. Just glancing to one side to witness the glow of happiness that seemed to radiate out of the Android made Carmine feel faintly envious, if only that she wished that she could be so light hearted in her enjoyments. Unfortunately too much of her life had been devoted to learning to master the darker instincts that came from having the blood of a Vampire in her veins.

If only she could similarly figure out Ryoma...the boy-turned-girl whom she had so recently ridden was as yet still a mystery, and not least of which was due to the odd way she had let herself be manhandled and manipulated by Tarot. How could anyone be so dynamic and forceful one minute and turn into such a...jellyfish when pressured by a woman?

Well...Jellyfish might not be the right term...one part of him had certainly been VERY firm, and that was the part that had staked Carmine repeatedly and pierced her to the marrow, though far more pleasantly than when her Mothers had to resort to drastic means to tame the periodic rages of her father...

Ryoma was wondering pretty much the same thing herself at the moment (about being a Jellyfish around Tarot, not the stuff that was peculiar to Carmine). ["Oh man,"] she silently berated herself, ["I let her do it to me AGAIN! When am I ever going to learn to put my foot down around Tarot-chan? I know she means well, but putting Carmine through all that...ah...putting me into Carmine...well...that just wasn't the right way to do stuff!"]

At times such as these she felt like a total idiot. Of course she cared about Tarot, but the Amazon girl had a way of pushing herself into things that could be downright aggravating. Ryoma knew that a more forceful type would take the Witch in hand and bend her over her knee to teach her to curb her Hentai impulses, but the thought of doing anything hurtful to the Azure-haired Sorceress just wasn't in Ryoma's nature. Tarot had been rude to Carmine almost from the start, first treating her as yet another rival, then seeing her as a means to an end and an excuse for screwing Ryoma by proxy. That wasn't the way people ought to behave with those they professed to care about...but how to make Tarot see that? The girl could be so insufferably smug and superior at times, confident that she was clever enough to outthink almost anyone, and one of these days that attitude was bound to land her in a heap of trouble!

Tachi eyed his best friend with clear sympathy for Ryoma's plight. At times the heir to the Saotome Ryu could be so utterly clueless when it came to women...an odd thing to say considering that he WAS part woman, at least half of the time on an average day. It was a downright shame and a pity, and yet even Tachi was at a loss of how to advice his friend on how to extricate himself from this situation.

He did, however, have a good idea of who needed the talking-to-most, so-  
begging Efreet to indulge his company for a moment while she and Carmine helped to dress in Kimonos, he sought out Tarot and took the Witch by the arm very firmly, leading her off to a far corner so that they could talk in relative privacy beyond the earshot of the others.

"What is the meaning of this?" Tarot began, surprised at the handsome boy's behavior.

"Shut up for a minute," Tachi said with deliberate rudeness, "I want you to listen, and I don't want to be interrupted."

The Amazon lifted an eyebrow and remarked, "You're feeling your oats today if you feel like risking a change in species."

"First hear me out and then you can decide if you want to Zap me," Tachi squared himself to look the crimson-eyed girl in the eyes, "You've been acting out of sorts all morning, and even you've got to admit that your behavior has been a little extreme of late. You're pushing it way too hard, and if you don't watch out you're going to get your head handed to you on the proverbial platter."

"And what would you know about it?" Tarot challenged.

"More than you seem to think," Tachi retorted, "I know better than to rub people the wrong way and try to make them agree with you by applying pressure where they'd most resent it. You're not quite as clever as you seem to think you are, and you're not so much smarter than everyone around you that you can afford to be making these kinds of mistakes. You know perfectly well that people want to at least have the illusion of free choice, and you're walking all over their egos isn't a healthy way of getting their attention."

"So what are you suggesting I should do?" Tarot glared at him in an almost neutral manner, "Sit back and let another girl steal Ryo-chan out from under me?"

"I think you should take a step back, give yourself some breathing space and have a hard look at the way in which you're trying to get their attention," Tachi urged, "You know that sex alone doesn't confirm a relationship, but maybe you have managed to get your point across. You should at least give Carmine the chance to decide if she likes you for yourself or not, or whether she honestly thinks Ryoma is worth all the hassle."

"You think she doesn't feel that way already?" Tarot frowned.

"She doesn't know him as well as we do," Tachi replied, "She hasn't a clue about what all she's getting involved with, but you do, and you should be the one on her side who helps her out around the rough edges. She's only known him a few hours and you've got them jumping into the sack together, and how long did it take you to get that far, or Ivory for that matter? Heck, what do you think she's going do to when she finally does meet Ivory and she's no longer this invisible bogey-girl we've all been making her out to be? She's going to need a friend...a real friend who isn't just out to screw her in a literal and physical sense, and you could be that friend if you just eased back a bit and stopped trying to rub her nose in the dirt that you've had a prior relationship with a boy she's just met. I mean...what was the deal with you getting her to bite you, then showing how you could turn that against her?"

"Maybe I don't like to be taken for granted either," Tarot replied, "Ever think about that?"

Tachi shook his head and sighed, "I can't imagine anyone...even Ryoma, taking you for granted, Kenzan-san. You know how to wrap him around your little finger without even casting a single spell, and he goes out of his way to avoid getting on your bad side, which has nothing to do with your powers. He knows you'd never try to seriously hurt him, so if he's afraid of you at all it's because he doesn't know how to behave himself in your presence. He was raised with a certain set of values, and you tend to think that rules are something that apply to someone else. You quoted Amazon law a while ago when for years you've rebelled against the whole concept of basing a marriage on one's ability to fight. You're both a fighter and a lover, but you need to start treating the man you profess to love like you thought he genuinely was your equal!"

"Are you done?" Tarot asked, her eyes dark and sullen with unvoiced emotions.

"Not quite," Tachi answered, "It could be the way that you were raised, but I know you as well as if you were my own sister, and I think you're mature enough to come to your own conclusions, but sometimes you need to hear it from a friend before you start to think like a reasonable person. I know how much you want to make your own mark in the world, but forcing Ryoma to marry you isn't something either one of you truly wants deep down. This has to come from both sides of the marriage couch if it's going to work out between you or even a third person in the mixture. Think about it and don't let your pride make you behave like a jackass. The Kami know what a blockhead Ryo-san can be when it comes to his suitors, but you've got to give him at least a chance at making a decision that he's going to have to live with, one way or another."

"And what if he doesn't come to his senses?" Tarot spoke in a low, dull voice, not looking up at Tachi, "He's never looked at me the way he did when he looked at Carmine. You think I enjoy standing there being ignored while he makes goo-  
goo eyes with someone who isn't even fully human?"

"Excuse me for being dense," Tachi replied, "But I never thought you cared all that much what a person's blood is made from. You didn't have any qualms about showing Efreet how to screw me."

"I didn't think you needed much help getting her interest," Carmine replied, "It was what she could do to you fumbling around learning the hard way that most concerned me. We need you to continue to be able to walk upright if we're to pull off this deception with Lord Kuno."

"Don't think the effort wasn't appreciated," Tachi allowed him a half-smile, "But I think I can take it from here. You sort out your own problems...and lay in the bed that you've made for yourself. Deal?"

"Perhaps," Tarot replied, "We will see."

"All I ask is that you put that clever brain of yours to work and stop doing your thinking with another set of organs," Tachi nodded, then turned and retraced his steps back to the side of Efreet, who had been watching them the whole time and silently listening in with her greater-than-human auditory senses.

"What the heck was that all about?" Ryoma asked as her lifelong friend passed by her.

"Oh, nothing much," Tachi replied, sparing Ryoma a glance as the sex-changing boy was already dressed up in a formal looking kimono, "Not bad, 'Cousin,' you look good enough to..."

"Finish that sentence and you'll be swallowing your teeth," Ryoma glared at him before adding a sarcastic, "Cousin."

"Are you guys really cousins?" Efreet asked, then turned around to show off her own change in formal attire, "How do I look?"

Tachi blinked his eyes, amazed at how a little change in clothing could transform the already attractive Android into a virtual GODDESS, her hair having been combed and piled up within an amazingly short span of time as though she had applied a bit of magic to transform herself into a fantasy princess.

"Ah..." Tachi forgot momentarily to blink his eyes, but then his brain hit the "RESET" button and he started to breathe again, swallowing before saying, "You...look very nice indeed..."

"Carmine helped me with my hair," Efreet smiled enchantingly, "And the color even goes with my key staff."

"I prefer to wear Chinese clothing myself," Carmine replied glancing down at herself and adding, "But I think I can manage to get by in this red silk thing."

"You do look very nice in that," Tarot remarked as she almost magically seemed to appear right beside the Vampyr in a blue-green Kimono, "But I think the color green would set off your hair even better. What do you think about that, Ryo-  
chan?"

"Huh?" Carmine blinked, surprised at finding the Sorceress beside her.

"Ah...well..." Ryoma swallowed, looking from redhead to blue-haired girl and wondering just how Tarot had gotten herself dressed up in such a hurry. Both women looked stunning, and the color of their dresses oddly meshed well when contrasted one on the other.

"She doesn't give up, does she?" Efreet murmured to Tachi.

"Well, I tried," Tachi rolled his eyes, then turned a glance towards where the remaining members of their party were situated, "How are you two getting on over there?"

"Ah...I could use a little help here," Minos admitted, standing before a frustrated Wanda, who was having trouble fitting a light blue Kimono over her broad shoulders.

"Let me do that for you," Tarot offered as she left Carmine and sauntered over to the snow-haired giantess, "I'm not surprised that the Daimyo has nothing in your size, but I'm sure I can work with this to help bring strength to your womanly figure."

"Thank you," Wanda replied as Tarot reached up to spread the two halves of the kimono even about her shoulders, and-wonder of wonders-the material seemed to stretch out and broaden to accommodate her dimensions.

"Think nothing of it, my friend," Tarot replied as she played her hands over the waist and then the sleeves of the kimono, causing it to expand until it properly fit her dimensions, "You are one of our happy little group now, and how you present yourself reflects upon the rest of us. When I get done here there will not be a man living who will not regard you with admiration and envy Minos-chan. Now...be careful how you duck down under the rafters, it wouldn't do for you to bend too low and have an accident. Now...what can we do with all that platinum lovely hair..."

"On the other hand," Tachi mused, "She does have her moments."

"So, are we done here?" Ryoma asked as she slung her spatula across her back.

"Ah..." Tachi thought about telling his "cousin" to leave her trademark weapon back with the rest of their things, then thought better of it as without a bakers peel, Ryoma would look...well...practically naked (something he DEFINITELY did not need to dwell upon while escorting his own lady).

"We are done," Tarot announced, stepping away from both Wanda and Minos, who both stood in regalia worthy of a Prince and a Princess.

"Good," Tachi said, convinced that his nerves would not be able to withstand much more exposure to so much attractive feminine pulchritude if he did not get them moving into a more socially restrictive situation, "I don't know about the rest of you but I'm starving, so...let us be on our way to greet my brother, the Daimyo."

"By all means," Efreet grinned as she took his arm in a passable imitation of his speech pattern, "Lets."

Carmine eyed the Demon Goddess with a look of worry, then found her own arm being guided into Ryoma's as Tarot took her place on the opposite side and wondered once again just how the Witch was managing to be in so many places at once. Even Carmine needed a breather when she accelerated to speeds that were superhuman.

The group fell into step as they exited the chamber, and not a one took notice of a figure who stood back in the shadows, unseen even from the observation booth as the figure chuckled softly to himself and said, "I love my work. These kids never cease to be entertaining."

And when he stepped back into the shadows the room this time was truly empty...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Coke Breaks for Hardened Caffeine Addicts: shadowmane

Who is that mysterious man within the shadows (boy, is that a clich or what?) and what does this portend for the immediate future of the Gang from Nerima? What is the secret of the killer planetoid and why would anybody in their right mind create such a thing, let alone build their house atop it? For these and other mysteries yet to be solved (Scooby Gang, where are you?) stay tuned for the next exciting installment: "A Switch in Time," or "A Ghoul and Her Mummy are soon Departed!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	17. Chapter 17

RanCubed16

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

Chapter Sixteen.

The Citadel of Silence

Continuum # 87219654

Dark Citadel,  
(Pocket Limbo-Like Dimension)

Roll Call:

Team Alpha-Zero,  
Wing Gundam Training Unit

Akira Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Yuki (17) Pilot: Firebird Urika Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Konatsu (17) Pilot: Iron Chef Saber Kuno -Daughter of Shampoo and Kodachi (16) Pilot: Steel Serpent Trolla Galt -Zentraedi Clone-sister to Merriam (12) Pilot: Steelshark Dana Stirling -Daughter of Max and Merriam (10) Pilot: Sunstone

"Got a confirm on that, Unit Leader," Dana reported, "The composition of the surface layer is definitely saturated with a negatively charged Deuterium-based compound. Don't ask me how it can remain stable...but it forms an outer shell that surrounds the entire planetoid..."

"A planetoid that is largely composed of White Dwarf matter," Trolla added rather soberly, "And beyond that...we get a hollow reading from sonar sensors, but an EMR reading can't penetrate that shell to tell us what it's made from."

"Whatever it is, it has to be awfully dense to create this kind of gravity envelope," Saber estimated, "The fold manifold indicator definitely confirms that this tiny little speck in orbit around the Earth has the mass of the planet itself, and I'm getting some very bad vibes on a personal level."

"Getting skittish are we, Sugar?" Urika asked, but then answered her own question, "Well, in this case I'm inclined to agree with you. I'm also getting a really bad feeling about the place, like this is the sort of place that ought to be carpet bombed on general principles."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Akira noted, "Right now I'm willing to hear other options."

"Maybe a reconnaissance landing?" Dana suggested, "We could get in close to that castle-like structure on one polar end and go in on foot to learn what we can about whoever's at home? Two of us could do it while the rest hang back and provide support?"

"Sound tactics in a conventional sense," Trolla approved, "But you are forgetting the very unconventional way that we folded in here. It wouldn't do to be caught land-bound if we should be sucked back the way we came...but if you're willing to risk it, then by no means let me stop you."

Akira could almost feel Dana bristle at that last barb and decided a little tactical intervention from above was in order, "We'll hold off on a ground probe for now, Silver One, and Silver Two...why don't you stay on alert just in case we do get another fold reading. Gold One, take a surface recon from here and try to determine if that structure is habitable or not, and if we can expect any sort of reception. Gold two..."

"Lieutenant," Saber intervened, "I am picking up surface movement in the area surrounding the castle. There is a massive surge of ground activity concentrating near the middle ledge of a broad ravine, and I make out a crude wooden bridge where the bulk of this activity is centered."

"I copy that, Unit Leader," Urika confirmed, "A small handful of figures are holding off a wave of thousands of assailants...but I'm getting really weird life-level readings on those attacking units. They don't really seem to be alive as we understand the terms...maybe some kind of non-biochemical reaction?"

"Negative that, Gold One," Trolla responded, "They are biochemical, but their animating force appears to be some sort of Anti-life energy field. I suspect they are remote controlled by a source located somewhere in the fortress structure, though that's largely speculative on my part."

"I'll go with your instincts, Gold Two," Akira affirmed, "Those units are definitely acting like drones moving in a wave rather than self-coordinated units. Do you copy that, Gold One?"

"Affirmative, Sugar," Urika replied, "But I'm a little more interested in those defenders on the bridge...something about them seems oddly familiar for some reason..."

"What makes you say that?" Saber asked.

"Don't really know," Urika replied, "Just this really weird hunch I'm getting..."

"Unit Leader, Bogeys at Ten O'clock!" Saber barked out, calling attention away from the drama on the bridge towards a sky-borne assailant, and all members of the Gundam Team reoriented their combat sensors to register the new element in their current theater of operations.

"What the hell?" Akira stared at his monitor array, seeing a wave of black objects heading directly for their position, "They look like bats..."

"Make that Manta-Rays, Unit Leader," Urika replied, "I make out two types, one small and insect like, the other as big as a plane and maybe twice as nasty. They're coming on in a wave from the other side of the planetoid, and I can't get a reliable estimate of their numbers..."

"Who cares how many they are?" Dana replied, "The point it they're coming at us! Permission to take defensive action?"

"With what?" Akira asked, "We were supposed to be flying this mission without live ammo!" she pointedly aimed that comment at the two particular members of her unit who had "conveniently" circumvented that issue.

"Check your systems and punch in the code, 127," Trolla responded, "That will bring your Gundams up to full combat ability and activate the live ammo drums. Believe me, you won't be firing blanks here."

"Terrific," Akira murmured as she punched in the needed codes and was rewarded by the sight of her on-board systems flashing full active, "Remind me to have a word with you Pirates for your creative interpretation of orders, after we survive this."

"I'm at your disposal...any time and place, Airen," Saber pleasantly affirmed.

"No one else will have their way with you as long as I'm on your wing, Sugar," Urika said archly, as if aiming a warning note in the direction of her rivals.

"Says you," Trolla rebuffed, "I'm the one who will protect our leader's flanks against all enemies."

"WOULD YOU GUYS KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY?" Dana snapped in clear exasperation, "Those suckers are almost on top of us!"

"Glad to see somebody's paying attention," Akira growled, "I just hope you hotheads didn't waste all your ammo in that free-sparring cat-fight."

"Not to worry, Unit Leader," Trolla affirmed, "I always hold something in reserve for just such emergencies.

"Somehow I'm not surprised," Akira grumbled to herself, "Stay in formation and fight in teams, and stay with your Wingman! We're going in and rake hell on those creatures!"

All four of her companions affirmed as one their unity to this cause, and Akira knew that they would set aside their normal rivalry and pull together as one body, displaying a teamwork that they only knew in battle, which would at least give Akira a brief interval of peace, however ironic that she would be too busy waging a war to enjoy the respite.

Like a well-oiled machine the Gundam units plunged into the black mass soaring rapidly towards them, and into the teeth of a storm that would test their resources and machines in ways that went well beyond the most far-fetched conceptions of their genius inventors...

Roll Call:

Ayane Tofu -Daughter of Kasumi and Korato, Saiyajin Warrior Ryeka Masaki -Daughter of Ayeka and Ryoko, Half-Juraian

"Geez" Ryeka complained, "Who does the interior decoration around here, Kagato's little sister?"

"I would have said Dracula myself," Ayane replied as the two of them walked through the dark corridors of the cavernous fortress, "Cheery place...I almost expect to hear somebody playing organ music in the background."

"I can hear a Fugue coming on any second," Ryeka agreed, "Just hope whoever's in charge here had in mind to call the maid sometime this century..."

"You ask me they must have fired the help a long time ago," Ayane reckoned, "What kind of people do you think we'll find in this place?"

"The sort of people who live here of course," Ryeka answered.

"Figured as much," Ayane nodded, "Hey...mind if I ask you a question?"

"You just did," Ryeka responded, but after a few second pause she added, "What is it?"

"Well..." Ayane began, "You're a Juraian living on Earth..."

"Half-Juraian," Ryeka replied, "And I was born on Earth...only the other half of my parentage comes from my Space-Pirate Mom, Masaki Ryoko."

"Masaki Ryoko?" Ayane reacted, "No way...you're related to the Masaki twins?"

"Masaki twins?" Ryeka blinked her eyes.

"Yeah," Ayane replied, "Kira and Nika, they're a couple of apprenticed Ninja with Super Powers. They're in my mid-noon Home Ec class...nice girls, but they're always bickering over all kinds of pointless stuff. Funny thing is, their mother's a really nice lady named Ayeka..."

"Ayeka?" Ryeka replied, "That's the name of my other mother!"

"Huh?" Ayane reacted, "How can you have two mothers?"

"Easy," Ryeka sniffed, "My Grandmother's the Scientist Washu...with her around anything can happen."

"Professor Washu?" Ayane blinked again, "I have her in Physics! She's your grandmother?"

"Yep," Ryeka replied, "Greatest Mad Scientist in all the known Universe and former Dean of the Galactic Science Academy. She created my Mom from some cells in her body about two thousand years ago, combined with some creature called The Mass, which is why she's so powerful, and I've inherited all of her abilities."

"The Mass?" Ayane asked, "What's the Mass?"

"A living generator and storage battery of Bio-energy," Ryeka replied, "Don't ask me for too much more beyond that...my sister Tenko's the genius in my branch of the family tree."

"Tenko?" Ayane repeated, "You mean that other blue haired girl who looked a little like you?"

"Well, half-sister anyway," Ryeka recounted, "Her father's my Dad, Masaki Tenchi, so unlike me she can create the Wings of the Light Hawk. I've got a lot of Juraian powers from my mother's side of the family, but that's one trick I haven't fully mastered."

"Wings of the Light Hawk, huh?" Ayane mused, "I've seen the Twins use it once...it's a pretty darned effective technique. Of course I've learned how to create some handy little attacks of my own, and as a student of the Anything Goes Ryu..."

"That's the part I have trouble with," Ryeka frowned, "Uncle Ranma taught me the Saotome Ryu with a bunch of other kids my age, but mostly because our families are real close and related by blood, but you're not even related to him on your timeline..."

"Doesn't matter," Ayane replied, "He's a friend of the family and my Uncle by adoption. He was once engaged to one of my Aunts before she died fighting an enemy, and I guess he's like a second father figure to me. He recognized my potential when I was very little and taught me how to use my gifts to become the best fighter in Nerima, maybe even Japan itself, if not quite the rest of the planet."

"Stiff competition, huh?" Ryeka nodded in understanding.

"Oh yeah, lots of that," Ayane huffed, "There's Berka, she's part Kitsune and a real pain in my ass, and she's always picking fights with me by inventing stuff and throwing her gadgets at me, all because she thinks I came between her and Cerdwin, who's part Valkyrie and an exchange student from Valhalla..."

"Is she your girlfriend?" Ryeka asked.

"She's my best friend," Ayane replied, then halted in her tracks, "Wait a minute...you don't mean...?"

"Hey, it doesn't mean anything to me," Ryeka replied as she turned around to meet the challenging glare of her companion, "I've got two biological mothers and a sort-of father, remember? If you wanted to sleep with your best friend I wouldn't think anything about it."

"Maybe you don't," Ayane growled, "But it makes me sound a little too much like Berka."

"And she wants to screw your friend?" Ryeka shrugged, "Why don't you tell her to go ahead and stop bothering you? Way I see it, it ought to be up to Cerdwin."

"Let that Nine-tailed loony lay a hand on my friend?" Ayane bristled, "Not bloody likely!"

"Gee," Ryeka said almost shrewdly, "You almost sound like you're jealous."

'I AM NOT JEALOUS OF THAT KITSUNE!" Ayane loudly insisted.

"Okay," Ryeka allowed, "So you want to sleep with your friend, Cerdwin, for yourself."

"What?" Ayane blinked, "Hey...wait a minute...!"

"What's the matter?" Ryeka smiled, "Never sleep with a girl before? It's quite a different experience than bedding a guy, but the principle is the same, and I can go either way myself."

"What?" Ayane reacted again, "Wha-you have? But...!"

"Hey, it's no big deal," Ryeka shrugged, "I don't mind if you're a virgin...some of my best friends are Virgins, and I don't hold it against them."

"Why you...!" Ayane balled her fists, "I don't do stuff like that, and I don't sleep around like some girl with easy morals..."

"Well, why the hell not?" Ryeka wanted to know, "Life's too short to be spending it waiting around for 'Mister Right' to show up and sweep you off your feet. I'm just asking why you get so worked up about whether or not your girlfriend sleeps with other girls if you're not out to bed her yourself. I mean...if you really do like her, wouldn't you rather be happy if she's getting some on the sly?"

"Huh?" Ayane seemed confused by the matter-of-fact tone of the other girl, "You...mean that? But...I...well...I don't..."

"Aw, don't worry about it," Ryeka said dismissively, "It's no skin off my nose how you choose to live your life or who you want to sleep with. I'm just blowing smoke up your tail pipe, don't let it get you down. If it's meant to happen it probably will one of these days. Of course it's also possible that this Berka character might actually want to screw you instead of Cerdwin, wouldn't be the first time a girl tried to get some attention from their real object of intent."

"Why-but-that would mean...ew..." Ayane winced.

"Something to think about, huh?" Ryeka wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, "And maybe if you did screw her back she'd be less of a handful. It's been known to happen, believe me."

Ayane frowned at the other girl and said, "I'm not like that, and stop teasing me about it already!"

"How do you know what you're like before you've done it?" Ryeka taunted back, "First time's the telling point, and it's always best to start out with somebody you find really attractive."

"And what the heck are you getting at?" Ayane asked.

"Do I have to spell it out?" Ryeka asked, "I'm saying if you want to try your luck, why not try it out on me."

"On you?" Ayane asked, "Are you telling me that you want me to screw you?"

"Well why the hell not?" Ryeka snarled, "You're not that bad to look at, you're kind of cute and you've got a great body under that martial arts Gi..."

"What did you just call me?" Ayane blinked.

"I called you Cute," Ryeka replied, "Why, is that a problem?"

"You take that back!" Ayane demanded, "I'm not cute!"

"Oho?" Ryeka arched an eyebrow, "So you're calling yourself an 'Uncute' Tomboy?"

"What?" Ayane reacted, "I-I didn't...you're confusing me, stop that!"

"Okay," Ryeka turned away, "If you can't take a compliment, then don't say that I didn't at least try to be nice to you. Too bad, though, we might have had some real fun together."

"Fun?" Ayane blinked, "But...I...I don't get it...?"

"Tell me something I don't know," Ryeka inclined her head and smiled suggestively at her companion, "And that's why I was offering to teach you...to show you the ropes, as it were, though we could get to that at a later session..."

"MREOW!" Ryo-Aki spoke up suddenly from her perch across the blue haired girl's shoulders.

"Huh?" Ryeka turned fully away from the other girl to take notice of some dark shadows that were pressing in from the sides of the wide corridors through which they had been passing. Ayane saw them too...a dark mass of armored figures lumbering towards them from both directions, and without a word being spoken by either girl they instinctively fell back-to-back with Ayane and Ryeka facing away towards these new assailants.

"Friends of yours?" Ayane asked.

"I thought they were your buddies," Ryeka shot back, "What do you think they are?"

"Don't know," Ayane replied, "But they don't look too friendly."

"Think they want to dance with us?" Ryeka asked as she smiled, her upraised fist suddenly glowing.

"A couple of pretty young ladies without dates like us?" Ayane replied as she brought her hands together and caused them to crackle with energy.

"Did you just call me pretty?" Ryeka asked in mild surprise.

"Urk!" Ayane reacted, "I-I didn't mean it like..."

"Never mind," Ryeka smiled, facing forward to her prospective playmates, "We'll pick this up later, after we've cleaned up the place with these losers."

"I'll go with you on the second part," Ayane agreed just seconds before the battle royale was about to commence...

Roll Call:

Muku Dori Senzenen -Daughter of Akane and Mikado, Iczer-Robo Pilot Rhea Kano -Daughter of Nagisa and Iczer-One, Iczer-Four

There was a shimmering halo effect that preceded the arrival of a pair of lovely forms, both strangely armored and looking ready for a battle. The pair surveyed the darkness of their surroundings, and then the dark haired one of the pair remarked, "Cozy place...if you're a Venemoid. You sure this is where we picked up those readings you noted, Hon?"

"Affirmative," Rhea replied, "The energy signature is definitely emanating from this sector. I make numerous life-energy readings over in that direction, and a few more that way, very powerful readings that go well beyond the scope of normal human levels."

"I don't suppose you can tell if they're friend or foe?" Muku asked semi-  
facetiously.

"Unfortunately no," her Bioroid companion replied, "That's beyond the scope of my sensor abilities..."

"I was joking, Honey," Muku assured her, "I wouldn't expect you to know everything...even if sometimes you can be pretty damned awesome."

In spite of their gloomy surroundings, Rhea's smile was like a sun beacon, "I'm pleased that you think so, Muku-chan, but I hope our abilities prove sufficient to the task at hand. This asteroid is like a weapon of mass destruction designed to resemble a small moon, and if it detonates the results could be catastrophic on an unimaginable level. We must find and defuse the instrumentality that will be used to activate the device and remove ourselves before a chain-reaction can implode and destroy this whole complex."

"Sounds like a reasonable battle plan," Muku replied, "But we still have to find out who's behind this sucker. I mean, what fool in his right mind would even create something this horrifically destructive?"

"Unknown," Rhea replied, "But perhaps we can for once complete this task without having to encounter the force behind it. I myself do not relish having to understand the mentality that would create such an awful terror weapon. I am, however, a little more concerned about the force that brought us here, and whether or not the two are related."

"You think we were brought here by the guy who built this sucker?" Muku winced, "Geez, that's such a comforting thought, going up against somebody powerful enough to take command of an Iczer."

"At least we still maintain mobility and a relative sense of independence," Rhea remarked, "And I am detecting no impediment in Gamma-Theta's operating system. My other self is registering that all systems are at optimal levels, and so long as we maintain stealth functions we should be able to get inside and complete our objectives without being detected."

"I hope you're right, Hon," Muku replied, raising a gauntleted fist, "But just in case I brought my Iczelion armor. It should help equalize things a bit if they get intensive."

"Affirmative," Rhea agreed, "At the least I feel more comfortable knowing that you are wearing that level of protection. I am concerned about these other energy readings...I make out multiple bio-signatures approaching this complex, and the two stronger ones directly below us."

"I guess we should be ready to greet company should we meet up with any of those then," Muku softly noted, "Well...no sense waiting around. Let's follow the trail to the trigger device and blow it, because the sooner we get out of here the better I'll feel about it."

"I copy that," Rhea softly nodded, resolved to stay close at hand to her partner just in case they did meet the landlord, in which case things were likely to grow very intensive...

Roll Call:

Ranma Saotome -Time Cop, Heir to the Anything Goes Ryu Nabiki Saotome -His Wife and Partner, Lore Master Ranko Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Akane, Anything Goes Ryu Sayo Sanosuke -Daughter of Ranma and Kasumi, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Hiroshi Honsamu -Son of Maki and Takai of the Dark World, Exorcist Adam (Michael) Saotome -Son of Ranma and (?), Cyborg Eve (Moira) Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and (?), Cyborg

Freya Kuno -Goddess of Love and Battles, Valkyrie Leader Lyn Reikou Kuno -Daughter of Tatewaki and Freya, Valkyrie in Training Kachima Tendo -Daughter of Ranma and Nabiki, Apprenticed Lore Master Shanma Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Anything Goes Ryu Mace Saotome -Son of Ranma and Shampoo, Anything Goes Ryu Ganymede Kuonji -Son(?) of Ukyo and Makoto, Senshi in Training Kinko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Akane, part-time Angel

"Tell me something, Ranma-kun," Nabiki murmured as the two of them took point over the half of the group that they were leading, "Does it seem as strange to you as to me to have so many grown up children who can call you father and be right on at least a physical level?"

"You're asking me if I'm freaked out about this?" Ranma responded on the same level of a stage whisper, "Figure it out. I knew the mothers of these girls but I never really took it seriously how bad Ucchan and Shampoo wanted to marry me. If I'd even had a clue what they were after I'd probably have gone off on a training trip and never let myself be found again for the rest of my life."

"Surely you don't think it was that bad for you on those timelines?" Nabiki chanced to glance back at the girl named Kachima, and felt an odd stirring of long-dormant maternal instincts.

"Obviously not," Ranma said as he also took a moment to glance back at some of the girls and boys who were following in their wake, "Funny thing about those two who inherited that weird form of Shampoo's curse, but the others don't seem to have had that sort of problem. Trouble is that about half these kids who can claim me for a Pop have tragic stories in their backgrounds. Ranko, Sayo, those two Cyborg kids...according to them I'm dead on all three of their timelines."

"But you're very much alive and well and married to both me and Shampoo on the world that some of these others hail from," Nabiki countered, "And according to Lady Freya you've got yourself a pretty nice harem on her world..."

"Yeah, and you're married to that cross-dresser, Konatsu," Ranma snorted, "Not that I'm jealous or nothin'..."

"Don't remind me about that," Nabiki grumbled, "But still...it is odd that this array of talented youth has been gathered here as if for a reason, and my senses tell me that each one will play an important purpose in the coming struggle, though what that purpose is I cannot determine."

"Well, like the old woman who trained you used to say, it'll happen when it happens," Ranma idly noted, "Frankly I'm a little more worried about the guy who set this up. Call it Warmaster's instincts, but I get this feeling like we're caught between two enormous powers, one out to blow up everything in creation, the other out to put a stop to this by using proxies...and I think you can pretty much guess who I'm thinking has the power and the Moxie to pull a thing like this off on our side..."

"I don't have to guess, I know exactly what you mean, Ranchan," Nabiki replied, "This fits his MO to a tee, and it's just like him to use us without asking. Probably knew in advance that we'd try to do it by ourselves and not get innocents involved, especially our own children."

"I hear that," Ranma said, "I ought to be enough to handle most anything they throw at us by myself, so I wonder what he's really up to."

"Something requiring specialized talents no doubt," Nabiki mused aloud, "A Samurai, two Cyborgs, a junior-level Valkyrie, a hybrid Demon child, and our adopted daughter, who is bonded to a Dimension-spawning pendant. But what's the connection that links them together?"

"Me," Ranma responded, "They're mostly my kids, and somehow they all reflect different things, maybe because they've got different mothers...well...mostly."

"You could be onto something there," Nabiki mused, "It hardly seems rational to have BOTH a brother and a sister with the exact same curse, and two Cyborgs who share the same origins and abilities seems a bit like overkill...unless there is a reason for redoubling the effects...hmm...if only we had some idea who their mothers were. I feel as if I am missing something obvious and significant here..."

"That's a new one on me," Ranma shrugged, "I'm used to thinking you either know everything about everything or at least know how to fake it."

"Or that I know where to go to find the information that I need," Nabiki turned another glance over her shoulder, "I have to say that playing den mother for this group is going to be very interesting...perhaps I'm paying a karmic debt that's giving me a taste of what life used to be like for Kasumi."

"I hear you," Ranma half-smiled, "Y'know...it's weird...over the years I've sometimes kinda wondered what it would be like to be a father...not that I thought I deserved it after blowing my chances, first with Akane than with Ucchan...only now...I'm starting to feel like I never really knew what it was all about, y'know? Just spending time with Ranko...I don't know where she gets all that energy! She reminds me so much of me it's scary..."

"Ranma...she's exactly like you were at her age," Nabiki murmured, "Except that maybe she thinks a little more and doesn't immediately blurt out her thoughts...qualities I'd like to believe she inherited from her mother."

"Gee thanks," Ranma snorted.

"I'm serious," Nabiki said, "When I look at her I almost see the best that was in Akane...hard to believe that her major role models were Happosai, Kodachi, your mother and Daddy..."

"Amazing that she's even sane," Ranma snorted, then turned a glance back towards his sex-changing daughter (now Son, he noted with a start as it occurred to him that Ranko now looked exactly like a younger version of himself), "But yeah...I think she's just like the Tomboy...and I really do mean that in a nice way too."

"I know," Nabiki nodded, then gave a slight turn of her head before adding, "Are you eavesdropping on us, little one?"

"Sorry about that, Mother," Kachima replied as she appeared beside them as though by magic, giving Ranma as much of a start as anyone else present, "But it's just that I find all this talk so fascinating."

"You know that we're not really your parents?" Ranma asked.

"I know that you are the nearest equivalent to my father that is on hand, Father," Kachima corrected, "Beyond that I notice only minor differences...a darkening about your soul, perhaps a greater command of the power that sleeps within you, but other than that...you are indeed my father."

"And what about me, young lady?" Nabiki asked.

"You are unquestionably what my mother would be if her path had been hardened with thorns and laced with bitter stones to tread," the younger girl responded, "Your strength is born of acceptance after a long, hard search that ended years of painful denial, and now you stand as a warrior to be reckoned, your mind as sharp as any weapon. I can feel the power that is at your command and am humbled, yet inspired. You bear the weight of our family on your shoulders and hold the future in your capable hands. You do not fear the future like lesser mortals but embrace your fate and believe in the power that both serves and guides you. Is that sufficient answer for you, Mother?"

"You know how to play on words to achieve your aims, don't you?" Nabiki smiled in sly amusement.

"I learned from a great teacher," Kachima replied, "And it never hurts to cozy up to the center of real power when preparing for a crisis."

"That sounds like something you might say," Ranma sniffed in amusement, "Don't forget to put in for the part about where she charges me by the hour..."

"Make that the minute if you keep it up with jokes like that, Mister," Nabiki growled in warning.

"Oh no," Kachima remarked with a gentle grin, "Mother would never charge you for that, Father...she'd have to increase your allowance first."

Nabiki halted in mid-step, turned and looked completely at the younger girl, who just looked back with a friendly, sardonic grin that was so hauntingly familiar that even she found it disconcerting. Ranma looked from one to the other, contrasting mother to daughter, and then shook his head in silent disbelief. The moment passed and then the party started forward again, but it was clear from Nabiki's expression that she was now considering the younger girl with more sobriety in her attention. They did not notice the smile that Ranma was hiding behind his usual fatalistic continence, but they both could feel his amusement as he silently contemplated the miracles of genetics.

Ranko-kun had been holding back to allow his adopted parents their privacy but he found himself mildly irked when the girl named Kachima had popped up beside them without warning. The brown haired girl was most definitely like his newly "adopted" mother and obviously wanted to get to know this version of Ranko's Aunt Nabiki, if only to learn about the differences from her own mother. It was no less than if Ranko had met another version of her own true mother, and how would she measure an Akane who had not gone crazy with the one who had slaughtered her own family? He was rather inclined to believe that any version he met would come across as an improvement.

This Kachima girl perplexed Ranko greatly, for although obviously a very pretty girl and quite clever in her own right, there was something calculating and sultry about her cross-dimensional half-sister, nothing sinister or distasteful but rather ominous in ways that Ranko found difficult to define. There was nothing he could put his finger on, but when she looked in his direction it caused a surprising wellspring of conflicting emotions to erupt that threw his regular thought processes into total confusion. Ranko wondered if there were something wrong with him, because at least some of these emotions were not the sort of things you were supposed to feel about a sister.

Hiroshi was finding himself the odd one out in this very odd assembly of near-  
total strangers, whether it was the man alleged to be Sayo's father or her various and equally alleged siblings, all of whom comprised a wide spectrum of the unusual and bizarre, though each in themselves were very attractive individuals who boasted unusual and even unique talents. Compared to some of these Sayo herself was almost ordinary (though he could hardly think of her as such given all that he had witnessed in the past few hours), and yet she seemed to be taking things more in stride than he would have expected given her somewhat reserved and conservative nature. He wondered how she could manage to look so calm and matter-of-fact about everything given all that they had been through so far this day. It was almost as if she lived entirely in the present with the past and future as unknown commodities. If something happen she would react to it directly, but not waste time afterwards fretting about what had and would be. She seemed to be entirely centered on the moment and was otherwise oblivious to anything not relevant to her immediate observations.

He sighed to himself as he wondered why he had become so close to her, and in such a short interval. Seeing her fall from the bridge had nearly caused his heart to lurch out of his breast, and he had risked revealing his Dark nature in his efforts to save her life, and yet she had accepted his aid and did not even question how it was that he could shoot out a limb like a rope to grasp her from a thirty meter distance. For his own sake it had not even been a conscious act, more like something he did as a reflex, breaking the habit of a lifetime in order to save her from certain doom, and yet she had not shied away from him afterwards or given him the kind of fearful gaze that he was used to receiving whenever anyone stumbled upon his dark hybrid nature.

He could not even say why he felt as strongly attracted to this Samurai girl as he was feeling at the moment, for though she was beautiful and gentle-mannered there were things about her that vexed him to no end, such as her utter recklessness and seeming disregard of her own life. Although not an outwardly violent or aggressive person, when it came to a battle she could throw herself into the midst of a melee without the least bit of hesitation, and regardless of the odds stacked against her would somehow emerge triumphant. That Sakaba sword of hers seemed almost to be attached to her arm with the speed in which she could draw and strike without warning, and she seemed almost matter-of-fact about the matter, as if felling a dozen men with a single stroke of her dull-  
edged blade were no great accomplishment. On the whole he was left to wonder at the extent of the training she must have endured to become so proficient, and how it could result in her being such a paradoxical and contradictory melding of contrasts.

The others had not reacted so sanguinely to the revelation of his semi-Demonic nature, but none seemed ready to challenge Hiroshi for the right to be among their presence, and after witnessing him healing Sayo's leg they seemed more-or-  
less content to leave him alone as if accepting on faith that he had good intentions. He wondered if the fact that he was a Shinto-Priest in training and practicing Exorcist that might have something to do with their attitude in treating him as relative harmless...Hiroshi had often found people more willing to accept his odd nature on the face of the fact that he was a Spiritualist, and thus very odd by nature in their mundane view of the matter.

Whatever the fact, he was a part of their group and would contribute his fair share to the coming battle, no longer having to hide or restrain the full extent of his abilities. If they could take in stride the fact that he could alter parts of his body at will, then his other talents would no doubt come to be viewed as useful, though in all truth he intended to stick as close to Sayo as he could manage. The girl might be heedless about her own personal safety, but she needed someone to watch her back, and there was no one's back near as interesting to Hiroshi as the one that belonged to Sayo (though he wondered if perhaps the Darkness in his blood was causing him to think of her in a less-  
than-platonic manner)...

Adam (He had resolved to call himself that rather than Michael...at least for the present) was finding his own assessment of the people around himself and Moira a curious melding of unquantifiable bits rolled up into a file labeled "Somewhat Useful Allies." That some were claiming that his father was their own father as well was by itself difficult to accept, but no more amazing than discovering that their father was alive after Adam would have surely attested to the impossibility of the matter. His last memories of their father was seeing him be cut down by automatic weapons fire that literally ripped into his body. Of course their father had fallen off that cliff and was lost, but it hardly seemed possible that he could have survived either the fall or his injuries. Try as he might to access his personal files, Adam could not come up with the data to either confirm or deny whether their assailants had ever found his father body.

The fact that the man striding ahead of their column was indeed their father could not seriously be questioned. There was a near-100% DNA match, a chronological estimation of ages, the subtle ways in which the leather-clad man moved his body that all conformed to the same pattern that was Saotome Ranma. His voice and Retinal scans were a compete match, and there was that knowing, almost confident way that this man handled himself which was unmistakably like that of his father. That their father did not seem to immediately recognize Adam and Moira could hardly be found exceptional given the fact that it had been some years since their separation, and at the time both twins had been fully human. Their appearances now was merely the effect of their designers projecting their ages ahead to where they would be near fully adult, and neither one of them was all that close a match for their mother...

Adam paused when he uncovered the file labeled "Mother" and nearly pounced on it with an eagerness that surprised him. It took a bit of mental hacking to break the seals and decode it, but then the file opened up to him and revealed a surprising array of data, complete with a mental picture and vital statistics pertaining to their mother when she was still alive and very much kicking.

["Moira..."] Adam sub-vocalized, ["Check the file labeled AShi017..."]

["I just did, Michael,"] his sister replied with a note of genuine wonder, ["I followed your thoughts and copied them with my own data files...and now we know who our mother was! How could we have ever forgotten her? She taught us everything that we once knew about skating!"]

["I know,"] Adam agreed, ["Mother dearly loved to skate when we were little...before she died and we wound up in that orphanage. I wonder if father remembers her? He seems to have forgotten so much..."]

["I doubt that he could forget mother,"] Moira assured, ["How could any man forget a woman like Shiratori Azusa...?"]

"Y'know, this is really weird," Mace confessed to Shanma, "I know that big guy's supposed to be like our Dad, but he's just like him...only...I dunno...grimmer than Dad, or something."

"He does seem to be a lot moodier than Pop," Shanma agreed, "According to that Ranko guy he's been through some pretty tough times, but what could be so bad that it would make Pop wear something like leather? That's usually Mom's schtick."

"You don't know that half of it," Kinko replied, "That guy there ain't like the Saotome Ranma either you or I know on our respective timelines. He's a walking powerhouse, and he's bad to the bone, really bad news to anybody who gets on his bad side. On his timeline he married my Mom and things went real sour...Mom went crazy and tried to kill him, wound up killing my Dad instead, can you believe that?"

"Are you saying that your mother...that Aunt Akane...killed our father?" Ganymede responded with a look of dismay.

"Hard to believe, huh?" Kinko shrugged her wings and added, "Mom's often threatened to kill Dad whenever she seems to be flirting with other women, but I know she never means it. Besides, my other Dad would talk her out of it long before it ever got serious, like beyond where Mom takes Dad's spatula and whacks her over the head with it..."

"Ah...excuse me for being dense here," Mace frowned, "But are you saying Aunt Akane married our Dad? That's crazy! No way would that ever happen!"

"It did happen on Ranko's timeline, obviously," Kinko's voice dripped sarcasm, "Or she wouldn't even exist! My Sis grew up an orphan because the Mom in her world DID kill her Dad and sliced up both of her sisters. I think that something weird happened on those timelines that made Mom go crazy, because I can't ever believe that she'd really hurt somebody like that deliberately. Okay, so Mom's got a temper and sometimes she hits people who make her angry, but she never goes all out to permanently hurt them and they always recover. Dad likes to joke that Mom's got Oni blood, like my other Dad, or just maybe she should have been born a guy or something. Heck, I don't ever waste my time trying to figure adults out...it's a lost cause, believe me!"

"All right then," Ganymede nodded, "So we can take it for granted that this version of Saotome Ranma has suffered great tragedy in his life and that it somehow hardened him into the person we see now. So...just how dangerous would it be to cross him?"

"Like it ain't worth your life, Bro," Kinko assured him, "I saw him take down a dragon that was bigger than this whole castle, and he won't hesitate at killing anybody who he considers his enemy. He's hell on wheels and he knows it, so the best thing to do is stay out of his way when we get to the fighting."

"Why would you want to cross blades with father?" Shanma eyed the She-male with mild suspicion.

"Obviously I wouldn't," Ganymede smiled back in an affable manner, "I just wanted to know what I could expect if he finds out that I'm interested in marrying one of his daughters."

"Hmph," the feline-faced Cat-girl looked away with her diamond eyes slitted and tail twitching in low agitation, but though she stared straight ahead she was all-too-aware that Ganymede's eyes were still upon her and that he was still smiling...

Lyn Reikou was also studying her companions with a curiosity that went well beyond normal apprehension, her Valkyrie senses detecting many strange things about these odd people, which left her with a whole array of unvoiced questions. She glanced from one fellow traveler to the other, seeing things in their body-  
auras that normal eyes could not detect, which helped her make some rather interesting observations. Aside from the two Avatars who were leading the way through the darkened corridors of the castle her companions (at least for the most part) seemed mortal, saving only for the obvious Senshi, whose lifespan naturally was much greater than those around her.

In a softly worded comment in their native Scandinavian language she directed to her mother she said, ("Mom...about these people...")

("I already know what you're going to say, Dear,") Freya replied, ("And I've noticed the same thing...nobody here has a mortality reading, including Saotome, which really is odd when you come right down to it.")

Lyn lowered her gaze and stared at the floor of the corridor through which they were trailing. It was one of the less agreeable aspects that came with the job of being an apprenticed Valkyrie was that she sometimes could see the shadow of Death hovering over people who were heading into dangerous or life-threatening situations. It sometimes helped her to know who was in need of her aid and she could often act to prevent their being overtaken by the grim aspect of Hela (the Goddess never minded this interference in her business, clearly feeling overworked of late with so many billions of "clients" to have to keep track of on any given Sunday, so lowering her work load was actually considered a favor). Lyn was never particularly comfortable with having the ability to know who might die or who had the least chance of survival among the mortals with whom she often hung around, but it had earned her the nick-name among her peers as "The Angel of Mercy" (which on the whole was a lot nicer than what some girls called her behind her back when they thought that she was after their boyfriends!).

("What does it mean, Mother?") Lyn asked aloud, disconcerted at being blind in this particular area of her semi-divine senses.

("Could mean one of three things, Sugar,") the Goddess replied, ("Either nobody here is about to die any time soon...or they're all going to die, including us, which ain't a cheerful notion. The third possibility-which I deem the more likely-is that our ability to perceive the future is being blocked out in some way that goes with the rest of the mystery surrounding this satellite...maybe the fact that there's so much Anti-Chronal energy scattered about or something. I wouldn't really know the technical stuff here, that's more the province of your Aunt Skuld, or maybe Belldandy.")

("I thought Temporal Mechanics was Aunt Urd's specialty?") Lyn wondered.

("Sugar,") Freya replied, ("We're no where near desperate enough for me to want to consult with Urd about a thing like this...although that might be changing if these ominous vibes I'm getting turn out to be what I think they are.")

("And what's that?") Lyn inquired.

("Oh, namely that the Ragnarok Virus might have been slipped back into the Yggdrasil system,") her mother replied, ("In which case we're all fucked royal.")

Lyn had to concede that her mother did have a point with that having witnessed first-hand the dangerous destructiveness of the "End of World" program. She glanced at her current compatriots and wondered if any of them would have the slightest idea of the sort of mess that could result if the Yggdrasil computers were hacked into by some sort of megalomaniac with fatalistic and genocidal intentions. The planetoid-shaped Bomb that they were standing on, for example, could prove to be only the least expression of just such a malevolent program.

She silently returned her attention back to these strange people who were so much like-yet-unlike-the children she knew and called playmates for the most part of her life. The two cat-cursed siblings were unmistakably Saotomes, but how odd to meet a child by Nabiki who claimed Ranma for a father, and what to make of those two Cyborgs? There was so much artificiality surrounding the core organics that she could hardly make an accurate reading and silently wished that she had a technologically oriented Troll like Glibli on hand to run a full diagnostic. And then there were the kids from Auntie Akane and Kasumi that she had to think about, and that guy who had the blood of the Dark within him, to say nothing of the Guy-Girl who was part Senshi!

She missed her regular companions and playmates whose talents would have been much appreciated in a battle, but was resolved to make the most of the materials on hand as there was no other choice in the matter. Too bad there wasn't time enough for her to get to know them better, she rather suspected that one or two of them would be a lot of fun to hang around with. At the very least she found these mini-romances and soap operas to be quite fascinating!

All too soon the corridor that they had been following opened out into a much larger and cavernous chamber, one that seemed to have been hollowed right out from the mountain itself. The walls were like basalt mixed with crystalline facets and had a most eerie and unnatural look about them, glowing faintly from within as they were to give the place a most unwholesome lighting.

"I have a bad feeling about this place, Mother," Kachima's voice could be plainly heard as the chamber proved to have surprisingly good acoustic properties that magnified the barest whisper.

"That is quite an apt way of putting it, young lady," Nabiki agreed as she allowed her eyes to rove the chamber, "This does not seem so much like the interior of a castle as it does the interior shell of some sort of device or a weapon."

"A weapon, huh?" Ranma slowly nodded, "That feels about right. Guess somebody wanted us to see this, probably to show the place off, though I don't think it'll win any awards for interior decoration."

"Is that why we haven't run into any bad guys?" Ranko asked, "Whoever owns this place was letting us in here?"

"I don't like the sound of that," said Adam.

"It sounds too much like a trap about to be sprung," agreed Moira.

"Perhaps it has," said Sayo, "In which case we should be ready."

"Ready for what?" Hiroshi asked.

"For me, of course," a different voice entirely responded.

Ranma and Nabiki both turned their attention towards a figure standing at the far end of the ramp upon which their group was now standing, and with a start the rest of the party all drew their focus towards a slender form confronting them and holding up a folded umbrella. The form of the man was lanky and even spindly after a fashion, but upon his chest was a glowing stone that seemed to have melted right into the exposed flesh of his body, casting forth an unhealthy light that illuminated his somewhat features.

Both Time Cops reacted as one with a gasp, and then together they spoke the name, "MUSHOSHIN RYO!?"

"But...you're a dead guy!" Ranma them spoke alone, "I saw to that myself!"

"Dead?" the figure standing astride their path responded, "What is Death to me...or life for that matter? I am beyond those petty concerns that afflict you mere mortals...I have a new destiny now, and I've been assigned the task of killing you, which I assure you will be permanent the way I intend to arrange things!"

"Mighty tough talk for a walking corpse," Nabiki replied, "Who are you working for...and why are you attached to this project?"

"You already know his name," the figure identified as Ryo Mushoshin responded, twirling his umbrella with one hand as though it were a mere baton, "But you wonder what his game is? It's quite simple, really...he plans to erase what you call reality, that pathetic blemish within the cosmos that suffers the race known as Man and is home to the likes of you, Saotome. You have no idea of with what forces you are confronted by this time out, and that pathetic band of rugrats and misfits that follows you won't help you either. This time you won't be pulling out any miraculous last-minute turnabouts or reversals of fortune...this time you lose, and when you lose it will be forever."

"Tough talk from a loser like you," Ranma balled his fists and took a stance of readiness, "Let's do this! The sooner I get rid of you the sooner I'll deal with your boss, Karadon!"

"So..." Mushoshin mused, "You've figured that part out for yourself...but it's too late for you, Saotome...the battle is over and it hasn't even gotten started!"

"What?" Ranma reacted, sensing movement on their flanks.

"Watch out!" Nabiki called too late to the group centered at the rear of their party, even as Lady Freya turned about and raised her spear to erect a hasty ward-shield. The effort proved to be too little too late as a force greater than that summoned by the Goddess struck against that shield and broke it before it was fully formed, causing a shock-wave to roll through the party before the teenaged youths knew what had literally hit them, scattering the party and sending them tumbling off into the darkness of the pit yawning like infinite night below them...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Climaxus Interruptus: shadowmane

Good place for a scene change? Wait until you meet the REAL bad guy! In the meantime we have Ryoma's group being entertained by a Daimyo named Kuno, and did we mention that he happens to be the nephew of Kodachi? Stay tuned for the next installment: "Out to Lunch," or "Highway to Heaving!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	18. Chapter 18

RanCubed17

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

Chapter Seventeen.

Let's Do Lunch

Continuum # 74968231

Roll Call:

Ryoma Saotome -Son of Ukyo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Inaho and Mosquiton the Vampire, 1/8th Vampyr Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Shampoo and Konatsu, Mage/Wicca in training Tachi Kuno -Son of Nabiki and Tatewaki, Nampo Kendo Ryu Efreet Mizuhara -Adopted daughter of Ifurita and Makoto, Demon-Goddess Minos Tarot -Son of Kasumi and Pantsaru, Shotokan Ryu Wanda Kenshiro -Daughter of Ranma and Aila, Fist of the North Star

Touga Kuno -Son of (?) and Tatewaki, Daimyo, Kendo Master Ryonosuke Senzenen -Son of (?) and Mikado Senzenen, Family Retainer Xandar Kurunei -Son of Kaori and Sasuke, House Ninja Yoriko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and (?), House Ninja Minx Tendo -Daughter of Akane and a Wood Sprite, Changeling Ninja

"Now then," Lord Kuno said graciously, "Perhaps you might care to enlighten me, Cousin, on some of the places you have traveled to, the lands that you have seen and the adventures that you have had in your studies abroad beyond the Home Islands."

"I am at your service, my lord," Tachi replied without showing a trace of the uneasiness he felt on this particular subject, "Where in particular would you like me to begin?"

"Wherever you care to start out," Touga replied, "Perhaps beginning with the age you were when you started out in your travels. It is always best to begin a story at the beginning, would you agree?"

"Indeed, my lord," Tachi replied, "A journey should begin at the beginning, and it is always best to start at one's earliest footsteps."

All around the gathering the guests of Castle Kuno turned and looked expectantly towards the young heir to the House of Kuno. No one wanted to say or do anything that would give away the game, but even so they were understandably concerned...even anxious in a few cases...on whether Tachi could effectively pull of a convincing deception. No one needed to state aloud what the result might be should the Lord of the Manor suspect them of being enemies, each one having carefully noted the number of loyal house retainers and Samurai strategically placed about the room on the off-chance that their Lord might summon them to battle.

The meal laid out for them was a sumptuous Japanese fare that no doubt would have cost a fortune in a high-class restaurant. As per a pre-arranged agreement, Tarot had cast a spell to determine if any of the foods might be drugged or poisoned and signaled that her scans had determined nothing. Even given that reassurance, they were reluctant to dig in despite being famished from a half a day of excitement and turmoil that had so recently concluded with a healthy dose of teenaged sexual indulgence. Even Ryoma, normally a bottomless pit when it came to any food put before her, was reluctant to so much as touch the rice so long as it was served by a possible enemy with the name of Kuno. The brief mention of Kodachi had served to discourage a hearty interest...but just the same they did not wish to be impolite by refusing a meal, and thus they came to the horns of their current dilemma.

Tachi had been the one who chose to resolve the manner by accepting their host's generosity, picking up his rice bowl and applying some soy sauce before picking up his chop sticks and signaling to the others that they were to copy his example.

It was fully ten minutes into the meal when Lord Kuno had asked his question, promptly Tachi to set aside his now-empty bowl and regard the Daimyo with a polite courtesy worthy of a conversation between gentlemen of leisure.

"My Lord," Tachi had begun, "You seem knowledgeable of the world outside...but have you ever been to a place near the river ford on the mainland in the Zhu Jiang Delta?"

"You are referring to the trade Islands of the British Protectorate known as Hong Kong," the Daimyo nodded, "I never been there myself but I am given to understand that it is very hilly country, not much suitable to agriculture but very prosperous as a center of commerce. Were you born there?"

"No, my Lord," Tachi replied, "I was born in Japan, but I spent a good deal of my childhood in places such as that and the Shanghai region. My mother insisted in having me along when she was representing my father's commercial interests. We even traveled inland to visit a remote region in the Bayankalah Mountain Range, where my concubine, Tarot, hails from. Perhaps you have heard of her people, the Nyanchiczu?"

"From Joketsuzoku?" Touga replied, "I am...aware of the people who live there and their traditions. Pray continue."

"As I have informed you previously, my family has traveled as far as to Europe and the Colonies, and as a consequence I am fluent in at least six different languages, and my academic scores are considered more than acceptable in the schools in which I have been enrolled. I have made a point, however, to spend as much time as I could back in the home Islands, so I do not consider myself a foreigner...though I admit to finding things at home somewhat different than what I remember."

"I rather imagine that you would," Touga nodded, "Of late circumstances in the Edo district have been somewhat turbulent with the recent decline of the Shogun's health. That is why you were met with such suspicion when you appeared within the borders of my land...it is somewhat unusual for travelers to pass relatively undetected this far beyond the border."

"Then I would apologize that we did not send word of our arrival or give notice of our presence," Tachi sought to reassure him, "It was not our intention to trespass or alarm you, but we have...had a few unexpected encounters in our more recent travels which is how we came to be here without our personal belongings, other than the clothes on our backs."

"Indeed, most unfortunate that your caravan was attacked by bandits," Touga nodded sagely, "These are lawless times and a man cannot walk safe within his own house. In such times it is difficult to know who to trust and believe in, but I am pleased that you did find your way here. There is such an air of novelty about you that I find myself intrigued, most particularly by your rather attractive cousin."

Ryoma took a moment to register the fact that she was the one the Shogun was referring to, and she blinked her eyes when she heard Tachi say, "Ah yes...my Cousin Ryoma. What do you wish to know about her?"

"Well," Touga said slyly, "For one thing...why does she wear that enormous spatula strapped to her back even when wearing a Kimono? To say the least, it does not quite go with her ensemble."

Ryoma caught the glances and glares turned her way by the other party members, and without thinking she said, "Hey...it's a tradition in my family. I inherited it from my mother."

"Indeed," Touga replied, "And would your mother happen to be a woman of the clan known as Kuonji?"

"Ah..." Ryoma cautiously reacted, "What about it?"

"Ahem," Tachi gave a warning glare at the auburn-haired sex-changing Chef, "My cousin is from the country...she is a bit more outspoken in her ways and has yet to master the intricacies of refined courtly speech..."

"Don't apologize," Touga replied, "I find such direct talk refreshing, coming as it does from a woman. I hear that the women of the Kuonji clan are superb cooks who have refined the art of Japanese Take Out service, a rather novel concept in my opinion. Are you any good at the craft?"

"Am I?" Ryoma grinned broadly, "Just try me!"

"By all means," Touga waved his chopsticks to graciously indicate his desire for a demonstration. Ryoma rose to her feet without even bothering to wait for permission (to which Tachi rolled his eyes and appealed to the heavens) then from seeming no where pulled out an iron plate roughly a half-a-meter in length and shaped like a rectangle, balancing it in the air and then moving her hands so fast that the thing actually seemed to be floating, supported by nothing!

Carmine, who had been sitting close besides Ryoma the whole time, reacted in amazement as a literal fire broke out beneath the iron skillet. Ryoma's hands were such a blur of motion that even to her eyes they seemed invisible as the Chef seemed to be pulling things out of empty air and dashing them together with the ease of long practice.

"HAI!" Ryoma cried, and instantly every Samurai in the room reflexively clenched a hand upon their katanas for an object sailed through the air aimed directly for their Daimyo, only to fall just short as if losing energy at the last second. A small discus-shaped object deposited itself on the empty plate before Touga, even as similarly shaped objects went about the room and found their ways to other plates all around the chamber.

Ryoma then paused in mid-motion, balancing the iron plate on the edge of one of her mini-spatulas and grinned triumphantly before saying, "Kuonji Ryu special Cooking technique, Raging Okonomiyaki! Go ahead and try some, you won't regret it."

In answer to this challenge Touga picked up the okonomiyaki set before him (as his retainers collectively held their breath and waited) then blew on it lightly before taking a bite and chewing it slowly. All at once the Daimyo's face took on a most peculiar expression, and then a broad smile graced his youthful features as he pronounced with great solemnity, "Delicious! It is like a taste of Heaven, so light and crisp with the melted cheeses and sauce enhanced by the vegetables and seasons! You are indeed a Kuonji, and a most exceptionally gifted one at that!"

"I learned it all from my mother," Ryoma smiled, then with a rapid motion caused the iron plate to vanish as she gracefully sat down, her spatulas replaced in their bandoleer harness.

Carmine looked down at the okonomiyaki set before her and decided to try a bite, as did the rest of their party. Almost at once her face took on a look of incredulity as she turned to regard Ryoma and said, "You do this sort of thing for a living?"

"Heh, well," Ryoma grinned, "I didn't grow up in a restaurant for nothing."

"Superb craftsmanship, Ryo-chan," Tarot congratulated, already having half-  
devoured her own okonomiyaki, "One of your best in my own not-so-humble opinion."

"It's good for a rush job," Minos grumbled, his face half stained with tomato sauce as he finished off his own "sample."

"Such foods the Gods themselves must dine upon," Wanda murmured as she stared at her half-eaten meal in frank amazement, "I can truthfully say that I have never before tasted its equal."

"It's really good!" Efreet congratulated, giving Carmine a sauce-stained smile, "Your boyfriend is really talented!"

"Boyfriend?" Touga inquired with a lifted eyebrow.

"Ah...she means girlfriend, of course," Tachi replied with a sheepish and quite nervous expression.

"Ah...of course," Touga nodded sagely.

"Would you mind if I asked you a question, my Lord?" Tarot asked, pausing slightly as she inclined her head towards Tachi, who nodded back as though giving his permission.

"I never could say no to a beautiful lady," Touga replied, "What is it you wish to know of me?"

Carmine noted that Ryoma frowned at the Daimyo upon hearing this comment, but before she could fathom what-if any-significance this might have, Tarot took the opportunity to ask, "How long have you been Daimyo of your lands, and do you rule by yourself...do you have a wife or any close kin with whom you can share this magnificent estate and castle?"

"A most astute inquiry," Touga replied, "And worthy of an answer. In truth I have no wife or Mistress at present, having only come into my inheritance a very few years back with the untimely death of my father. I do, however, have a cousin of my own who sometimes fills in for me when I am concerned with other matters. She is presently...indisposed or she might be joining us at this meal. Senzenen covers for me at other times and has my complete confidence in all other related matters of administration."

"Then how much do you know about the goings on of your land and your people, My Lord?" Tarot wondered, "We have heard that the average peasant in your lands does not fare so well or feast so handsomely as this bounty you have set before us. I would not presume to advise how you might best conduct the affairs of your lands, but I was wondering..."

"Am I responsible for the suffering of the peasants you mean?" Touga replied, "You are wondering if I am what they call a tyrant in other lands. Well, be assured that the people suffer no more nor less here than they do in other provinces..."

"My Lord," Tachi hastily spoke up, "Please excuse my servant for her presumption..."

"Not at all," Touga replied, "It is a reasonable question. Times are hard on everyone, but we of the nobility manage to maintain a lifestyle that few on the bottom rung of the social ladder can even hope to rival. I know that this is not necessarily the rule in all other lands, but Japan has seen difficult times since the decline of Imperial authority, where every man does what he thinks is good and few even bother to consider those less fortunate than ourselves. I rather imagine things could get a lot worse should these troubled times give way to open warfare."

"You've got a lot of enemies, I take it?" Ryoma asked.

"A few," Touga replied, "Mainly inherited from my father's time, though there is quite an interesting story regarding one particular rival clan now thought to be nearly extinct...the line of the Saotome."

"Eh?" Ryoma gasped, while Wanda more subtly seemed to sit up and take notice. The others likewise reacted to the name, though only Tachi managed to hide the extent of his own reaction as he said, "Saotome? I...have heard the name mentioned, but..."

"If you have been away in other parts, then it is hardly surprising if you should only know of them through rumor and legend," Touga replied, "My father considered them to be the greatest threat to his own ambitions, though they seemingly died out with the fall of the former heir to their house, a Daimyo by the name of Saotome Ranma."

Again there was a stifled reaction from all faces present, though Ryoma was the one who showed the most emotion in her expression, the chopsticks in her hand hitting the floor with an audible clatter.

"Indeed?" Tachi replied, once again showing the most control over his own reactions, "How did they die off? Was there a war between our houses?"

"Actually it was more of an internal matter," Touga replied, "The young Lord went mad and turned on his own faithful retainers, the Kuonjis, over paranoid concerns regarding the lines of succession between the houses. In point of fact I believe my Aunt played a part in those affairs, feeding lies and her poisons to the Lord of Clan Saotome. Ranma was to marry a woman of the Kuonjis whose name was Ukyo, but instead he wound up trying to kill her and was himself slain by her hand, after which she committed seppuku to atone for her own actions."

"BUT THAT-That just can't be...!" Ryoma was shocked and horrified beyond all thoughts of discretion, "Mom and Dad...NO WAY! You've got to be lying!"

"Ryo-chan?" Tarot said in alarm, even as Carmine felt her heart go out to the other girl, sharing her dismay at the reported behavior of Ryoma's parents on this timeline.

"Oh man," Minos let slip his own mask of cool indifference, eyeing Ryoma with more sympathy than he would have allowed on any other occasion.

"So," Touga remarked without the least trace of surprise in his expression, "You admit to being a Saotome...the child of Kuonji Ukyo and the late Daimyo...and you knew about this all the time, Cousin?"

"My Lord..." Tachi's eyes narrowed, "We were not aware of these matters...there was no deliberate intent to deceive you..."

"Oh, but I think you did have such intentions...Cousin...or should I perhaps call you brother?" the Daimyo smiled in a rather cold and calculating manner.

"You knew all along?" Tarot exclaimed.

"Indeed," Touga nodded, then shocked many present by speaking in English, ["Senzenen, clear the room. I want no other ears beyond my own to hear what we will say within this chamber."]

"As you wish it, my Lord," Senzenen himself bowed down, then made a sweeping hand gesture that was immediately obeyed by every Samurai and retainer. Rice doors opened and the guards slipped out in orderly ranks, then slid the doors shut behind them, Senzenen being the last to take his leave of the chamber."

"Why do I get the feeling that we just walked into a trap?" asked Carmine.

Efreet gripped her key-staff and half-stood up...when of a sudden her legs ceased to support her weight. She sat back down again with a look of surprise in her expression.

"Hey...I...I can't move..." Efreet exclaimed, "What gives?"

"Wha...I feel dizzy all of a sudden..." Minos wavered where he sat, "Wha...?"

"I feel...very strange," Wanda admitted, covering her face with a hand as she sagged forward, resting her weight on one hand.

"I can't move either..." Carmine bared her fangs and snarled, "What have you done to us, you Monster?"

"I-I don't understand..." Tarot murmured, covering her own features, "I should have detected this...how could we be poisoned?"

"Guys?" Ryoma blinked, completely unaffected, "What the hell...?"

"My apologies," Touga replied, "You are not poisoned, only selectively drugged, those of you who could prove to be the most nuisance. I left you two alone so that we could have this chat on more equal terms...'Cousins,' or should I perhaps address you as both a brother and a sister?"

"What?" both Tachi and Ryoma said together.

"Let me tell you a little story," Touga began with neither hostility nor warmth in his expression, "Once, long ago, there were three powerful Daimyos who governed this land and competed for succession to the line of the then-  
Shogun...the clans known as Tendo, Saotome and Kuno. The Lords of two of those clans, a Saotome Genma and a Tendo Soun by name, decided to unite their houses to increase their lands and improve the odds of one of their heirs becoming the next Shogun, and to this end their children, Ranma and Akane, were pledged to be married. The agreement, however, conflicted with a separate marriage pact signed before by Genma to the heir of one of his most loyal retainers, the Kuonji, and so Ranma had two marriage vows that conflicted with each other. Coupled with this, there was a third pact signed in secret that pledged Saotome Ranma to marry a daughter of our house...none other than my Aunt Kodachi...and as if this did not complicate matters beyond recognition, during one of their travels beyond our borders, Lord Genma and his son became entangled in a foreign affair concerning some Amazons from the Bayankalah mountain ranges."

"That...sounds like a very confusing story, my Lord..." Tachi remarked with caution, keeping his hands folded on his lap white fighting the urge to reach for his bokken, even as Ryoma's hands were clenching with anger, the girl having checked her own impulse to go for her battle spatula.

"It gets better, I assure you," Touga replied with a humorless smile, "My father hated Lord Ranma and coveted at least one of his pledged women, Tendo Akane...but then a new face appeared on the scene, an alleged cousin to Lord Ranma who went by the name of Saotome Ranko. My father fell madly in love with the redheaded girl and forswore his vendetta against Clan Saotome for her sake. Some curious rumors gradually surfaced on how she had come to be a member of their clan and it was said that she was actually Chinese and had been adopted by Lord Genma to spare her from a private vendetta with the Amazon named Xian-Pu, one of Ranma's four main suitors."

"So... you've got that much in common with us, huh?" Ryoma broke her silence, baring her teeth as she looked ready to go on the offensive.

"You haven't heard the best part yet," Touga informed them, "You see...Saotome Ranma lived a very active and troubled existence, and not least of which was his ability to attract enemies from all corners. One such enemy was a powerful warrior from the clan known as Hibiki, who are said to have the blood of the Oni in their veins. In a fateful battle between Ranma and one Hibiki Ryoga the young Daimyo took a near fatal injury and for a time was believed to have perished. Strangely his cousin turned up on our lands with a severe case of amnesia, in addition to some serious injuries, and my father at once had her brought to this castle and given the finest medical attention that our healers could provide. Eventually she recovered her health but her memories remained clouded, so my Father took it upon himself to personally coax her back to a state of grace, and in that time he courted and won her affections...and in time married her...and this woman was none other than my mother."

"WHAT?" Ryoma was now totally shocked, a sentiment not exclusive to herself as everyone else-including Tachi-gave vent to a similar reaction. (The sole exception being Efreet, who merely looked confused over the whole matter)

"Yes," Touga nodded, "I see you understand the implications. I am both a Kuno and a Saotome...an irony known to only a few trusted house retainers. Eventually my mother did recover her wits and realize what she had done and repented of the whole matter. By then, however, I was already delivered into this world, the unfortunate victim of a cosmic jest that I did not myself come to understand until years after being abandoned by my mother, who returned to her proper identity and station. As it turned out, she had been trapped in her state by an enemy from China by the name of Lord Kirin, but when she obtained the magic means of unlocking her curse she resumed her life as Saotome Ranma. By an ironic twist of fate I wound up with her...or rather HIS curse, which I do believe that we both share, dear Sister."

With that Touga raised a glass of water that had been resting near at hand and upended its contents over his own head...at once changing before their eyes as his features became more slender, softer and more effeminate, and then in a higher pitch of voice she said, "In this form I am known as Tomoe of the House of Kuno, just as you-I believe-go by the name of Saotome Ryo."

Ryoma was on her feet with her spatula unslung and held at the ready like a pole-arm, "Okay, so you and me got something in common, but don't think that means I'll let you get away with what you did to my friends!"

"They are of no true concern to me," Tomoe rose slowly to her own feet and smiled in a less than friendly manner, "But it is of great concern that a rival heir to my Mother's house should surface in the company of one whom I must regard as a long-lost brother. Shall I tell you the other half of my story? I think you will find it most amusing...you see...there was a member of the noble house of Tendo who approached our clan and sought to represent our interests as a go-between. She had a fancy for my father, and I believe he favored her-if somewhat less than his more intense ardor for her younger sister. That woman's name was Tendo Nabiki, and there have long been rumors concerning the reason why my father sent her away to represent his interests in one of the provinces. I had not been aware that she traveled abroad, but then again I did not take great interest in the rumors surrounding her until this moment. An oversight I will admit, but it seems that my father did indeed leave a bastard heir who now dares claim a stake as a son of the House of Kuno."

Tachi rose to his own feet and regarded Tomoe levelly, "You suspected this all along but said nothing. Do you honestly believe that I am a threat to you...Brother?"

"No real threat," Tomoe replied, "But matters are very delicate at the present, for with the decline of the clan of Saotome, Kuno house stands poised to lead the line of succession to the Shoganate itself. You must admit that it seems suspicious that rival claimants should arrive in these lands at this particular time and season, arriving with few personal belongings and only their physical skills to give testament to their lineage. I am rather amazed to find that the sole surviving Saotome, other than myself, should prove also to be the child of a Kuonji."

"So you think you know that much, eh Pal?" Ryoga growled, "Well, ain't you worried about facing the two of us without your army to back you up?"

"I do not need an army to reinforce my authority when it comes to lines of succession," Tomoe smiled, stretching out a hand that was suddenly filled by the shaft of a Golden Naginata, "I am more than sufficient for dealing with the both of you. Although I personally have nothing against either of you as a person, I must know for myself if you are here to challenge me in my domain, or if it is even safe to allow you both to live. Until I am satisfied on that count, I cannot allow you both to leave this chamber."

"I see," Tachi replied, "Then I am sorry also...Brother...because in a way I could almost like you...but I can't allow you to hurt my friends, or Ryoma."

"I, too, confess that I find you a most appealing figure...for a brother," Tomoe remarked as she set about to take a stance of readiness, "And sharing the curse of my mother and your father makes us seem even more than brothers, after a fashion."

"Yeah, well...don't expect any special consideration out of me, Bro," Ryoma replied, "Drugging our friends was a dirty trick that I'd expect out of a Kuno...in fact, it's a little too predictable you using one of those binary compounds that comes in two parts, one in the food, the other in the tea, so it can't be so easily detected."

"Eh?" Tomoe frowned, "How did you know about that?"

"Prior past experience," Ryoma smiled, "Comes from hanging around with a girl named Ivory, which is why I also know the antidote and can serve it up disguised as okonomiyaki."

The sex-changed Daimyo blinked her eyes and said, "You mean...?"

The rest of the party straightened up and rose to their feet, falling into formation behind Ryoma, Carmine and Tarot flanking her while Efreet took point beside Carmine while Wanda stood at the side of a glowering Minos.

"That's right, tough guy," Carmine growled, "We were onto you from the start!"

"You were mistaken to think that your deception would take us in so easily," Tarot mused, "Or that we would fail to develop an effective counter-strategy and agree to it in advance."

"Yeah," Minos brandished a fist, "You gave it away when you mentioned your Aunt Kodachi...we all know what she's like where we come from."

"Perhaps not so much on my world," Wanda remarked, "But I have had more than my share of encounters with those who use poisons and drugs to do their fighting."

"Ah...what's everybody talking about?" Efreet glanced from one side to the other, "We had a plan?"

There was a collective facefault, and then Ryoma growled, "You've got to be kidding!"

"Oh no," Efreet replied, "I just got really sick all of a sudden, then my body purged itself of the toxins."

"I see," Tomoe frowned, "Then you believe this tilts the odds back in your favor?"

"You've got that right," Tachi replied, "I'd rather not put too fine a point on it, Brother, but you do seem to be rather badly outnumbered."

"Not so!" cried Senzenen as he re-entered the room and stood at the ready.

"Lord Kuno shall not stand alone!" declared the Ninja named Xandar as he leaped down from the Rafters, followed by Yoriko, who crouched down low beside her fellow shadow warrior.

"Senzenen?" Tomoe half-glanced over her shoulder, "I gave explicit instructions that we were not to be interrupted."

"Forgive us, Lord," Senzenen bowed down low on one knee with head turned downward, a gesture copied by the two Ninja, "But we were concerned for your welfare, and if you were to fall against these pretenders then the rest of our clan would shortly follow after.

"Punish us if you must, Lord," Xandar pleaded, "But we cannot allow harm to befall you."

"I see," Tomoe frowned, "We will have words over your actions. Do not dishonor yourselves further by interfering. I will dispose of these upstarts, and then I will instruct you on your duties in following my orders."

"Hai!" all three retainers said at once, their heads lowered in postures of submission.

"Pretty confident of yourself," Ryoma growled, "Think you're man enough to take all of us on at once?"

"As manly as you, Sister dear," Tomoe replied gravely, "But you shall not find me lacking. I have trained all of my years to be the best of my generation, and in my hand I hold the Golden Naginata, legendary weapon of heroes, once said to belong to the Emperor Jingo himself as a present from his great-grandmother, Amaterasu. Only those of noble blood may wield it, and only one who has confronted the darkest truths within themselves and emerged triumphant. Another Tomoe once used it to slay an evil dragon, and it is in her memory that I chose to rename my female half, to dedicate myself to the cause of remaking the Home Islands into what they were meant to be...what the Shoganate has stifled."

"You have loftier ambitions than to merely rise up in status?" Tachi asked.

"Indeed I do, dear brother," Tomoe replied, "I mean to bring Japan into the modern era...kicking and screaming if necessary. You ask about the plight of the poor, well...it is in their name that I mean to bring an end to the Feudal era, to bring about a Meiji era where a man can live in peace and a woman can move without fear from one province to another. Necessarily I am opposed in this ambition by many a noble who prefers the current status quo, but there are none who can face me as an equal in battle. Do you see now why I must determine for myself if you are an enemy to my path...or potentially an ally?"

"I think I do," Tachi replied, "But there's really no need for this...we're not here to cause you any trouble. In fact we were planning on moving on very shortly, and you probably would never see us again once that happened."

"Would that I could believe that," Tomoe replied, "But for the sake of my people I cannot take the risk. Though I do not harbor you ill will, I must fight with you to determine the quality of your hearts and minds. Only in battle do the truths of a man's soul bare themselves before others, and it is your truths that I will now seek to determine."

"How sad," Tachi reached up behind his back and pulled out his bokken, "This fight is so unnecessary...if you knew anything about us you'd realize that we're no threat to you and your clan."

"Yeah, Pal," Ryoma made a fist, "You picked a fight when you didn't have to...but if it's a fight you're spoiling for, then you're gonna get one in spades!"

"Be careful, Ryo-chan," Tarot cautioned, "I sense great power from that weapon she holds...it is no idle boast to say it is magic."

"Yeah, whatever," Carmine bared her fangs, "I say we trash the sucker! Nobody slips one on me and gets away with it, right Efreet-chan?"

"Right," Efreet held up her key-staff, "I'm setting it on low-power so I don't wreck the place up too much, which is more than enough to deal with the likes of him."

"Save the juice, Doll, and leave him to me," Minos balled a meaty fist and brandished it, "I'll pound him like a wooden peg, even if he does look like a fashion model. You with me on this, Beautiful."

"Of course," Wanda rumbled, "Lord Kuno's hospitality to guests is seriously lacking...it should be simplicity itself to teach him some proper man-AHHH!"

Heads turned about at the sudden cry of the ice blonde giantess, and as eyes were riveted her way they saw Wanda begin to dance about with a wildly disconcerted expression, her kimono seeming to bulge unexpectedly in place as though another form were coiling around her, and then the rainbowed mop-head of the fuzzy-haired Minx popped out from the area of her cleavage.

"Big stuff no want pick fight with high mucky-muck lord," the swift-talking gamin remarked in her fast-clipped chipmunk-like speech, "Minx have other way keep busy, much more nice-nice!"

"GET OFF OF ME!" Wanda snarled as she tried in vain to grapple the other girl and tear her loose from her person, only Minx was too quick-moving and her body was too supple, and her hide was so slick and smooth that it was like trying to grip the proverbial greased pig, a feat beyond even Wanda's formidable means to accomplish.

"And now I'm worried," Tachi remarked as the other occupants of the room all sweat-dropped.

"What the heck is her problem?" Ryoma asked, "Why does that girl keep picking on the big girl?"

"Study in contrasts I suppose," Tarot reluctantly replied.

"Guess that's the long and the short of it," Carmine agreed in the same dull manner.

"Uh...need help?" Minos hesitantly ventured.

"YESSS!" Wanda replied, then hastily contradicted herself, "I mean...NO, I'LL DEAL WITH HER MYSELF!"

"Er...my lord?" Xandar audibly swallowed.

"Never mind," Tomoe heaved a heavy sigh, "Some things are just inevitable, I suppose, and in truth I should have seen this coming."

"Call her off!" Ryoma barked, raising her bakers peel in a threatening manner, "She's not your enemy, Jerk, she's our half-sister!"

"Half-sister?" Tomoe raised both eyebrows, "Interesting...so you are saying that this giantess is also a Saotome? I had no idea that Mother was so versatile...ah well. As a family meeting I suppose that it was also inevitable that the four of us should meet in combat."

"Sure you wouldn't want to reconsider?" Tachi raised his bokken and took a martial stance, "Last chance to end this in a civil manner."

"Oh believe me," Tomoe flashed her Naginata at the ready, "Compared to how my father might have chosen to handle this situation, I am being MOST civil."

"More like a pain in the fanny," Tarot sniffed as one of her hands started to glow, "Brother-sister to my dear Ryo-chan you may be, but your actions are unmistakably those of a Kuno."

"HEY!" Tachi protested.

"I was referring to your cousin Ivory, of course, Tachi-chan," the blue haired Witch reassured him.

"Oh."

"Look, are we gonna stand around here all day or are we gonna do this?" Carmine snarled.

"You mean we're going to fight in our kimonos?" Efreet glanced down at her own body, "And they look so nice too..."

"Ah..." Ryoma paused then said, "Y'know...she has a point there. These things don't give a lot of freedom of motion, know what I mean?"

"They are fitting enough for the purpose," Tomoe replied, "Now...enough delays...we will fight now and then I will..."

"My Lord!" Senzenen suddenly spoke up, "Something...is happening to you! You are becoming...unsolid?"

"Eh?" the sex-changed Daimyo blinked her eyes then glanced down at herself and said, "What in the name of all the Kami...?"

"Uh oh," Ryoma chanced a glance at the others, "You guys feeling a little light-  
headed?"

"Oh dear," Tarot huffed as she stared through her own hand again, "This is really such awful timing..."

"Not again!" Carmine wailed, looking wildly about for her purse so as not to lose it.

"Yep, it's happening again," Efreet said with more nonchalant acceptance, "Looks like we're going elsewhere."

"But where this time?" Tachi asked as he glanced back to see Minos struggling to try and help Wanda extricate a Minx from her body.

"I dunno," Ryoma replied, "But I think we're gonna find out very shortly..."

Continuum # 985643217

"Well?" asked Tendo Kanazuchi, "You gonna eat it or not?"

"Ah..." Saotome Onnama stared nervously down at the bento box laying across her lap and considered just how she was going to answer that question. What she wanted foremost in her mind to ask were only two things: "What is it?" and "How do I get rid of it without hurting my sister's feelings?"

"You ask me, I'd chalk it up as a loss and start all over," remarked Kuonji Idou beside them, "Face it, Sugar, you've inherited all of Dad's talent for cooking. I've been trying for months to teach you how to cook and you still can't tell the difference between flour, salt and sugar, Sugar."

"You keep out of this!" Kanazuchi snapped, "At least I don't mix baking soda up with gunpowder!"

"That's only for my cooking arsenal," Idou winked, "You can never be too sure when you might need to defend yourself against any culinary-inspired challenge letters or the creeps who think they can cook better than a Kuonji."

"Uh...guys?" Onnama glanced from her brother to her sister and back again, sensing the onset of another bout of sibling rivalry, and with herself caught in the middle, "Could we, like, not attract attention during lunch for once? Classes start again in another few minutes, and I'd like to get through one whole day without a fight, know what I mean?"

"So who's fighting?" Kanazuchi growled, "I just wish you guys would stop picking on me, it's not my fault that I'm a little clumsy in the kitchen."

"Nobody says it is, Sis," Idou responded, "But what do you need to worry about? A cute girl like you doesn't need to cook, just sit back and act pretty and the boys will buy you lunches."

"Stop calling me cute!" Kanazuchi fumed, "I hate it when guys think that they can act all nice to me and get inside my pants! You know that kind of guy doesn't interest me at all..."

"We know," Onnama heard herself saying before she had the presence of mind to stop herself, and only belatedly did she manage to slap a hand over her mouth before the rest of her statement could escape her.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Kanazuchi growled ominously in her direction.

"Sis means she thinks you're not interested in guys period," Idou responded, leaning back against the tree that they were sitting beneath and perching one leg over the other in a casual manner, "Which-you have to admit, Kana-chan-  
does seem to fit the circumstances."

"Are you calling me a Dyke again?" Kanazuchi snarled, "I'll have you know I DO happen to like men, just not stuck-up hentais like you, Pancake-face!"

"Hah," Idou smirked, "Methinks thou dost protest too much, gentle Maiden..."

"Not the Kuno-isms again," Onnama growled tiredly, "As if I needed another reason for losing my appetite..."

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Kanazuchi rounded on the pig-tailed Saotome.

"Ah-well...!" Onnama wilted nervously before her sister's baleful expression (after all, they didn't call her "The Hammer" for nothing!), but fortunately for her, Fate chose that moment to smile in their direction.

"Yo!" a voice hailed out, "What's shaking, Losers?"

Idou sat upright with a panicked expression as Onnama heaved a sigh of relief and carefully set down the bento box (not wanting to spill it as the grass and tree might be killed from the toxic contamination). Kanazuchi turned away from glaring at her siblings to take notice of the pair that was approaching them the main body of the schoolyard. It was with a general nervousness all around that the three siblings turned to pay their regards to their cousins, Koku and Neko.

"Nihao," the latter purred with a particularly sultry (and predatory) expression, eyes focused upon Onnama, much to Kanazuchi's annoyance.

"Ah..." Idou glanced wildly around as if seeking a handy rock to crawl beneath, and finding none available, turned nervous eyes in Koku's direction, "Koku-  
chan...what a pleasant surprise..."

"Save it," the shorthaired girl responded with one of her patented sardonic expressions, "You can make it up to me by buying me dinner sometime...and I don't mean okonomiyaki."

"Onna-chan," Neko left her sister's side and knelt down before the wary pig-  
tailed girl with her usual cheerful demeanor, completely ignoring the dagger-  
look that she was receiving from Kanazuchi, "I think that's a very nice idea, we can double-date and you can treat me to dinner."

"Excuse me?" Kanazuchi archly responded, "Who's going out on a date with you?"

"Well, obviously not you," Neko responded, "You wouldn't even know what to do on a date if you could even find a boy desperate enough to have you for an evening."

"Is that so?" Kanazuchi growled dangerously, "Well, it just so happens that MY sister is taking me out to dinner tonight, isn't that right, Neechan?"

"Now there's a conversation I don't remember," Onnama murmured under her breath.

"WHAT?" Kanazuchi reacted.

"AH-I mean I'm slightly out of breath...I don't remember which restaurant that was that we went to the last time. Ah...you're welcome to come too, Neko-  
chan...ah...uh oh..."

Onnama noticed how the pleasant demeanor of the odango-wearing girl flashed a warning that hinted of the Demonic side of her nature, and for a brief moment Onnama was reminded of why the blue haired girl was often referred to as "The Hellcat." She was just as volatile in her way as Kanazuchi, if only half as prone to fits of violence that were all-too-often turned in Onnama's direction. It was all that Onnama could do to play peacekeeper between the Cat-girl and the most notorious Tomboy in all Nerima, herself notwithstanding!

"Onna-chan," Neko growled ominously, "You wouldn't remember the restaurant if your life depended on it."

"That's true," Kanazuchi agreed, "You'd get lost just finding your way to the district unless you had one of us on hand to guide you."

Onnama rolled her eyes and sighed in silent resignation, knowing by now that it was better for her not to argue the point. As if it were her fault that she had such a lousy sense of directions...a fact she inherited from her Baka of a father!

"Look," she said patiently, "I'm just saying that the three of us could have a nice, quiet meal together without anybody getting all upset or jealous over nothing...and what are you looking at, Koku?"

"Nothing much, Saotome," Koku replied with that superior-snug look in her eyes, "I just find it fascination how artfully you can insert your foot past your tonsils. It's a wonder that my sister doesn't force you to eat your own warrior's braid."

"Haven't you got any rubes to shake down for their lunch money?" Kanazuchi glowered, "You're butting in on a private conversation, Cousin, so why don't you go find a betting pool and play bookie?"

"I already did," Koku replied, "In fact I've got a pool going on now that has twenty-to-one odds and looks like a sure thing from this angle."

"Twenty-to-one odds?" Onnama blinked her eyes, "What's the angle?"

"Merely that our fellow students are estimating the likelihood that you will live to see graduation, Cousin," Koku replied with complete matter-of-fact acceptance, "In all truth, though, I would say that giving you a one-in-twenty chance would be a bit overly optimistic on my part, but I'm feeling a bit generous towards our fellow students after the heavy fleecing they got betting against Neko in her last fight."

"Twenty to one, huh?" Onnama glanced at her discarded bento," Sounds about right..."

All at once Neko turned around and her features took on a peculiar look of alarm, and had she been in her other form she most likely would have had her whiskers twitching and her tail standing on end, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the others.

"What is it?" Idou asked his cousin.

"I don't know," Neko replied, "It feels almost like lightning was about to hit...only..."

The next second later they found the area before them filled by a dozen oddly dressed figures, all poised like characters from a stage play re-enactment of some historical Kabuki-styled drama, only with the female roles played by actual women!

"Eh?" asked one particularly fancy-dressed figure that was holding a glowing golden Naginata in the manner of an aggressor.

"Uh-oh," a handsome boy dressed in the manner of a Feudal-era Prince and holding a bokken in his hands remarked, "This is going to take some explaining..."

"No fooling," said an auburn-haired kimono-clad girl with a large bakers peel gripped professionally in her own hands, "Hope they don't give us any demerits."

"We are back at school?" a blue haired beauty remarked as she glanced around, "No...wait...this does not feel correct somehow..."

"Who cares?" a redheaded lovely at her side remarked, "At least we're back in the right century, that's what's important!"

"Well..." the dark haired girl holding a peculiar key-shaped staff in one hand noted, "I am picking up radio signals, and the Geo-positioning satellite relays are almost what they should be, but...I dunno...it does seem kinda different..."

"My Lord," one of the warriors dressed like a Samurai reached for his sword and turned around as though looking for opponents, "This is sorcery...treachery! Somehow we have been moved from the safety of the castle!"

"Glad to see you could figure that one out for yourself, Einstein," Ryoma growled, "Only we didn't do it, we're as much in the dark about this as you guys."

Tomoe turned his attention back to her prospective foemen then said, "Indeed...and the truly odd thing is that I believe you. Unless your Witchy companion has cast a spell to confuse the senses..."

"Why does everyone always presume that we have nothing better to do with our time than to mess up other people's lives?" Tarot rolled her eye.

"Gee, I don't know," Carmine's voice dripped sarcasm, "Maybe 'cause it fits a pattern?"

"My Lord!" one of the pair dressed up like Ninja started to say, "We cannot relax our guard merely because of this enchantment..."

A sound cut him off in mid-sentence as all eyes turned to where a writhing pair of bodies, Minx and Wanda, who were somehow embraced in a most unlikely position, the latter being the cause of the scream that drew everyone's attention. It was not, however, a cry of pain and anguish but rather of intense and rather unexpected pleasure, as though the giant girl had just experienced a rather intense climax...a fact well accounted for by the position of Minx's hands, face and body, exposing bits of naked flesh to full view as Minos stood over them with the most disconcerted and peculiar of expressions.

"Oh my," Efreet broke the ensuing silence following that climax, "Guess they heard that one all the way to Hokkaido."

"Well..." Tarot said somewhat reluctantly, "That is a fairly...novel way to disarm an opponent."

"Hooboy," Ryoma winced as her eyes went to Minos, then back to the half-naked giant being molested by the foxy gamin.

"Off hand," Tachi remarked, "I'd say the round definitely goes to your side on that one."

"Quite," Tomoe remarked succinctly, coming to stand at rest with the Naginata held at a neutral position, "Perhaps, siblings...under the circumstances we might call a truce...at least for the moment?"

"I was just about to suggest that myself," agreed Tachi when-as if on cue-  
they had yet another timely interruption.

"Excuse me...who the Hell are you guys?" someone new asked, "And what's with the costumes?"

As one the group (save only for Wanda and Minx, who were busy doing other things, with Minos paying them alone his full attention) turned to see the angry redheaded girl demanding an accounting, and then Ryoma gasped, "Pop? Is that you?"

"Say what?" the redhead looked at the auburn haired girl with the Bakers Peel, then turned to the boy at her side and said, "You got any idea who that is, Bro?"

"Not in the least," responded Idou, glancing from Onnama to Ryoma and back again before saying, "But something tells that we're somehow related..."

"What is this supposed to be all about?" demanded a very tall and angry looking girl whose dark hair was done up in a pony tail, "Who are you people? Is this some kind of a play they're putting on? I didn't know our High School was funding a period Kabuki."

"Oboy," Ryoma heaved a sigh, "I sure hope Principal Hinako isn't watching this...we're gonna get detention for sure..."

"Somehow I think we still have larger issues than that to concern us," Tarot remarked, only to pause as yet another groaning noise filled the air, which caused her to turn about and say, "Honestly, Mino-san...are you just going to stand there or will you act like a man and break that up already?"

"But..." Minos indicated the two girls virtually snuggling at his feet, "Like...how am I supposed to put a stop to that?"

"You're a guy, figure it out," Carmine snapped, turning to Efreet as she added, "Heck of a way to get through a school day."

"I know," Efreet replied, "And if this is how they start us out as Newbees, then the rest of the semester is gonna be a doozy..."

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Central Overriding Themes and Dramas: shadowmane

Once again Ryoma's gang has come to a world they never made (hey, that means they can't be blamed for bending it up a little, right?) and dragged a few stragglers with them, yet where is their ultimate destination, and how many more bloody chapters is it going to take to reach the climatic resolution? For that and other issues yet to be resolved, stay tuned for, "To Have and Have Naught," or "Torched by an Angel." Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	19. Chapter 19

RanCubed18

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and Others,  
including my fellow fanfic writers, Nicole Manders, Gregg Sharp and DB Sommers, who provided some of the characters and concepts that have appeared in this series, and to TH Tiger for his generous support and advice in the writing of this and many other projects)

Chapter Eighteen.

Good and Bad Behavior

Continuum # 59343921

"All right, nobody move! This is a Stickup!"

The owner of the establishment, a young-seeming woman wearing a pair of slacks and a tank-top, glanced up from where she was sitting near the bar, enjoying her morning cup of tea and reading the morning paper. She evidenced not the slightest concern as she sized up the two bandits, then calmly said, "Jo, better go in the back. This will only take a moment."

"I said don't move!" the lead of the two gunmen ordered, firing off a shot from his gun to emphasize his point, by which time Josephine the Cook had withdrawn as ordered.

The owner smiled as she turned around and said, "You've got a point to make, tough guy, make it with me."

"Okay," the leader said, glancing around to find the rest of the restaurant was virtually empty, "Then I will, and don't try mess with me, because I'm a mean, freaking time-bomb ready to go off if you give me the slightest excuse to blow you away!"

"I'll try and keep that in mind," the owner smiled as she regard the two men sidelong, "You've come too early in the day. The register has a full drawer, but we haven't done much business, so the safe will only contain the last day's proceeds."

"Shut up!" the leader cried, sticking his gun almost in her face, "I'll do the talking!"

"No," the girl said, "You'll do the screaming," and then with a lifted finger she pointed at him, and the man dropped his gun to the floor crying out as he shook his hands and doubled over.

"What did you do?" the second gunman asked, shaking slightly.

"Nothing too special," said the young girl, whose hair-it should be noted-  
was a light blue color and hung nearly to the floor in a pair of pony tails. She slowly got up off her stool, regarding the remaining man now with speculative interest, "Mind if I ask you a question? What are you doing following a dweeb like him anyway? You don't look much older than me, and you hardly seem the type to be playing cops and robbers."

"Shaddup!" the second gunman said, holding the shot-gun in both shaking hands, utterly unnerved and trying hard not to show it.

"Hardly seems like a very good career to get into," the girl cocked her head and studied him with more interest, "You need a job? I could use someone to tidy up the place. Pay's not great, but it sure beats hanging around with this kind of loser."

"Why you...!" the first gunman snarled as he recovered, drawing a large knife from his belt, but without even glancing his way the girl side-kicked him and knocked him senseless.

"I mean it!" the second man said, "Don't make me shoot you!"

"Go ahead, if it makes you feel more like a man," the blue haired girl said, "Won't do you any good, though. I've faced meaner looking dudes than you before having my breakfast, which-by the way-I'm missing because you and your loser friend interrupted my best chef."

"Quit trying to mess with my head!" the second gunman pleaded, "I don't want to hurt you..."

"That's a laugh," the girl sniffed dismissively, "Look, I can see you've had a hard month. Living on the street can do that to you. Tell you what, you put down the gun and my friend over by the door won't send you to your next incarnation."

"Y-your friend?" the first gunman gasped, pushing up off the floor, "Y-you think we're gonna fall for that one...?"

The second gunman suddenly stiffened, feeling something cold press against his neck, which prompted him to say, "Uh...Gordo...I don't think she's kidding..."

"Good guess," a chillingly calm voice said from behind him, "Put the gun down now or I'm going to get very cranky."

The gun hit the floor as the second gunman whimpered, "Don't hurt me..."

"Hi, Kiyone," the owner smiled.

"Hi yourself, Sasami," said a very tall and statuesque beauty dressed in a long trench coat, her silky black hair showering down to the small of her back, "These guys bothering you?"

"Naw, this guy's just looking for work," Sasami shrugged with a cute expression, "I was considering applications when you showed up. That's Gordo on the floor, and the pretty boy you're holding is named...Jaiden, right?"

The boy blinked his eyes and asked, "How did you...?"

"Jai, you idiot!" Gorgo snarled, snatching up the discarded gun and firing it as soon as he could aim, only to stare in amazement as the bullets slowed to a crawl and stopped short of their intended targets.

"I think I've had enough out of you," Sasami smiled, "Go sleep it off until the cops get here to take care of you," and she waved her finger again, which caused the gunman to slump to the floor, totally insensate.

"W-what did you do?" Jaiden gasped.

"Oh, nothing special," Sasame replied, "You see, I'm really a lost princess from the planet Jurai, but I'm also the physical incarnation of Tsunami, the Primal tree of the Jurai and linked to the cosmic forces of creation that govern the cosmos..."

"Spare him the crash course in you family history," Kiyone sniffed, "What do we do with the little punk?"

"Put that away," Sasami sniffed, "You'll have to forgive her, Jaiden. She gets a bit cranky before she's had her morning tea. Oh, and thanks for not splattering what passes for that other guy's brains all over my floor. I really wouldn't like to have to clean up this early."

"I knew he wasn't going to be a problem," Kiyone said as she hid her blaster back inside her overcoat, "It's your lucky day, kid. I'm in too good a mood to kill anyone before breakfast."

Jaiden swallowed, "Thank you."

"Go in the back and talk to Jo," Sasami tossed her head meaningfully, "She'll understand when you say I sent you. You may have to talk to a policeman, but we'll straighten things out eventually, oh, and forget about that Tsunami stuff. It's supposed to be a secret," she winked meaningfully.

"Uh...right," the boy said, moving on shaky legs to the back of the restaurant.

"Don't know why you do that," Kiyone shook her head, "Picking up strays will only give you fleas..."

"Call me soft hearted," Sasami smiled, "He looked hungry, and he's way too cute to send to reform school. It's not his fault that times have been tough in this prefecture."

"That's because most decent folks find work in one of the projects nearer to the city," Kiyone said as she found a stool and sat down upon it, "Only poor people, the filthy rich and fools live up here with the mountains with open sky over their heads, or so everybody tells me."

"So, which are you?" Sasami asked, "Poor or a fool?"

"More one than the other these days," Kiyone sighed, "Look, if it's not too much trouble...?"

"Sure," Sasami said, moving around behind the counter, "One cup of tea, hot and spicy."

"By the way," Kiyone glanced at the man on the ground, "Why did you play around with these guys? You could have taken them both down with a snap of your fingers."

"Maybe so," Sasami replied, "But I knew you would be showing up about this time, and I thought you might get sore if I didn't save you at least one to play with."

"Hah, fair enough," Kiyone chuckled, "I guess those of us without Jurai powers need sometimes to feel like we're useful for something besides window dressing."

"Speaking of which," Sasami said as she fetched a breakfast roll, "How's Mihoshi? You two gonna make it to the family get-together?"

"We're going to try," Kiyone assured her, "Mihoshi and I just got back into town after our last tour together. Her singing career has really taken off of late, and I may decide to close the detective business and be her manager full-time."

"Cool," Sasami said, munching on a roll herself, "Well, I'm happy to say that the restaurant business is doing better than when you left. People from all around here are my main customers and you know how good word-of-mouth is at drumming up business."

"The way you cook, I'm surprised you don't have them lined up in rows around the block," Kiyone mused as she sat down on one of the benches as Sasami served her tea and rice crackers.

"Well...like you say, a lot of people have been moving closer to the factories to save on commute time," Sasami remarked as she began whipping up one of her instant breakfasts in the kitchen, moving faster than a human could move while seeming to make each motion seem effortless. In less than a few seconds she had a steaming hot plate of breakfast okonomiyaki sitting before a pleasantly surprised Detective Kiyone, who glanced up at the blue haired Princess in an appreciative manner.

"Where'd you come up with that?" she asked, "You going into business with Ucchan's?"

"Ukyo taught me the recipe last time we were visiting in Nerima," Sasami replied, "Try it, I guarantee you'll love it."

"Hey, anything you cook always comes out great, Kid," Kiyone said appreciatively as she took a piece of the Japanese pancake between her chopsticks and blew on it before taking a sample, "Hmm...delicious! I just wish Mihoshi cooked half as well as this..."

"How are you two getting along these days?" Sasami asked, "Little Kihoshi must be...what, going on sixteen these days?"

"That's right," Kiyone nodded, "Our daughter's old enough to enroll in High School. Hard to believe, even after all these years, that she is our daughter...thanks to Washu and her experiments in recombinant DNA."

"You don't need to tell me about that," Sasami said brightly, "I hear it all the time from Ayeka anytime Ryeka gets into trouble. She always tells Ryoko, 'Now see what YOUR daughter has done now?'"

The former Galaxy detective chuckled in rueful irony at the thought that she might have anything in common with the clan Masaki, but then again, twenty years ago, she would never have imagined herself being in a domestic partner situation with her former partner in the Galaxy Police, let alone MIHOSHI of all people! Life did create vast ironies to confound and amaze even the life-hardened Kiyone...but then nothing ever went quite the way one expected they would in that extended family of Juraians, Mad Geniuses and Space Pirates that fate had decreed that she be a part. It was not that Kiyone had much cause to complain for the unlikely chain of odd circumstances that had guided her through her life to its present course and dimension, but it did seem a little strange even to her that she could be happy living with someone who constantly drove her to distraction!

An inquiring mew drew Kiyone's attention back to the here-and-now, and the Detective took note of a long-eared, furry creature sitting on the stool next to her looking up at Sasami with a hopeful expression.

"Ryo-Oki!" Sasami said brightly, "Want a carrot?"

"MEOW!" the cabbit replied enthusiastically, sitting up like a dog and begging for her preferred meal of choice.

"Here you go," Sasami waved a hand and conjured up a bunch of carrots, holding them up before the little creature so that Ryo-Oki could start wolfing down the orange vegetable like a cat devouring tuna.

"She sure is hungry this early in the day," Kiyone remarked in amusement, "I sure envy her appetite."

"Well, of course she's hungry, Silly," Sasami said in a chiding tone of voice, "She's gotten pregnant again and she's going to lay another egg in a couple of days."

"What?" Kiyone asked in surprise, "What is that...her sixth child so far?"

"Her seventh," Sasami corrected, "Not that anybody's counting. We were thinking of maybe giving her to Kihoshi as a birthday present."

"That's all our kid needs," Kiyone smirked, "Her own Space Pirate ship. That'll just about make her day, though I wonder what the Galaxy Police Academy will say if she shows up one day in a living spaceship."

"She is quite a handful, isn't she?" Sasami asked, "Not to mention a real chip off the block for her parents."

"Now what makes you say a thing like that?" Kiyone wondered, "Aside from her having my eyes, what else did she inherit from my side of the gene pool?"

"Well, for one thing," Sasami winked, "She's real trouble for the boys and the ladies, got your killer looks and everything."

"Flattery like that will get you somewhere, Kid," Kiyone sniffed, "But I guess as I get older I get more used to the idea of being a father...especially when I'm sober."

"No sake for you," Sasami chided, "It's much too early in the day for that."

"Sadist," Kiyone growled as she finished her breakfast, "You're as bad as your sister."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Sasami said when Kiyone's wrist-dial started flashing. Automatically the former Galaxy Patrolwoman reached to tap the device, then study its sensor readings.

"What's this?" she blinked her eyes, "Is that you, Washu?"

"Right as rain," said the holographic display of the redheaded genius, "You're looking good as always, Kiyone...and you're timing couldn't be better."

"What's going on?" Kiyone asked, "I just got back into town with Mihoshi..."

"Yeah, I know, and sorry to interrupt your vacation," Washu replied, "But something's come up and I need you back at the lab. Is that Sasami with you? Better bring her along. I'll arrange for a direct matter transfer point to pick you up and transport you here on the double."

"What's going on?" Sasami asked with a puzzled expression.

"I don't know, Kid," Kiyone replied, "You're the one with the direct pipeline to a cosmically omniscient tree. I guess if Washu says she needs both of us, though, it must be pretty important."

"Ah...Miss?" Jaiden asked timidly as he came back into the restaurant, "Chef Josephine says I should report to you for my first assignment."

"Why not straighten up in here and see your friend stays put until the Police arrive," Sasami called back to the hapless would-be bandit, "I need to go somewhere with my friend for a moment, but I'll be back to check on you, and that's a promise."

All at once a light fell over her and the trench-coated Detective and they seemed to go briefly two-dimensional before winking out altogether, leaving Jaiden to stare open-mouthed at the place where they had been standing.

"Meow?" asked the curiously long-eared creature sniffing the space with a puzzled expression.

Jaiden took a few moments to consider his options, then decided that whoever the blue haired girl was, doing ANYTHING that might potentially upset her would be a VERY BAD THING! He eyed his unconscious friend and considered fleeing for the hills together, thought the better of it and instead went in search of a broom with which to start his first day of honest, gainful employment...

Continuum # 87219654

Dark Citadel,  
(Pocket Limbo-Like Dimension)

Roll Call:

Ranma Saotome -Time Cop, Heir to the Anything Goes Ryu Nabiki Saotome -His Wife and Partner, Lore Master Ranko Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Akane, Anything Goes Ryu Sayo Sanosuke -Daughter of Ranma and Kasumi, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Hiroshi Honsamu -Son of Maki and Takai of the Dark World, Exorcist Adam (Michael) Saotome -Son of Ranma and Azusa, Cyborg Eve (Moira) Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Azusa, Cyborg

Freya Kuno -Goddess of Love and Battles, Valkyrie Leader Lyn Reikou Kuno -Daughter of Tatewaki and Freya, Valkyrie in Training Kachima Tendo -Daughter of Ranma and Nabiki, Apprenticed Lore Master Shanma Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Anything Goes Ryu Mace Saotome -Son of Ranma and Shampoo, Anything Goes Ryu Ganymede Kuonji -Son(?) of Ukyo and Makoto, Senshi in Training Kinko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Akane, part-time Angel

Ranma groaned as he came back to his senses, having experienced an inexplicable period of darkness that did not mesh well with his previous memories on the subject. That thing he remembered clearly was being confronted by Muhoshin Ryo, then an unexpected attack striking the party that he was with from the opposite direction with the result that bodies went flying in all directions...and beyond that he was a little fuzzy on the details.

The fact that he had been ambushed was nothing new to his experience, but being taken down by a loser like Muhoshin was a bit too sharp a blow to the ego, so Ranma decided to search his memories for further clues, allowing that part of his mind that never slept to come to the forefront so that he could discover for himself if he had truly lost the battle or not and what was the fate of his companions-slash-wife and paratime children. He needed to know if they still lived or had perished, the better to be plotting his revenge should the enemy responsible for this put in an appearance anytime shortly.

Of Nabiki Ranma had no doubt that she still lived for they were bonded in soul as well as body, and were one to cease existing the other would know of it beyond question. He was also certain that Ranko was still alive, which gave him hope that the others had fared as well and could still be rallied. He allowed his infallible memory to piece together his last conscious memories, then ran the Dreamtime forward so that he could perceive what had happened with the clarity of a semi-objective observer. Shiva would supply the rest and would inform him if any of his companions were no longer among the living...

When the surge of anti-energy had been hurtled in their direction, the Goddess Freya had hastily raised a shield to protect the party's rear flanks...too hasty as it turned out as she did not have sufficient time to employ her full divine powers. Enough force battered down the barrier to strike the party in their center midst, which happened to be where Shanma and her siblings were clustered.

Of the group surrounding her only Ganymede had managed to somehow absorb the blast and retain possession of all of his senses. Finding himself and most of the rest of the party being thrown off the bridge and into the open space above a near-bottomless pit, he hastily summoned up his power to create a globe of energy that could encircle them whole. Kinko, however, was thrown beyond the reach of this spell and only because of the sensation of air rushing past her wings and face was she able to revive her before she could plummet too far beyond the rest of the party.

Recovering with a flapping motion of her wings, she got her bearings righted out then looked around to see if anyone needed her assistance. It was at which point that she soon discovered that others were facing a sheer drop into a well of infinite darkness, Sayo looking at one point to be the most likely of candidates before Hiroshi caught up to her and stretched out his other arm to catch the edge of the walkway. The Cyborgs each projected out matching sets of grappling hooks on wires to halt their own downward momentum, averting a drop into the infinite night that beckoned down below them like the maw of a hungry beast that swallowed the light and meant to do the same thing to their party.

That left only Ranko and Kachima unaccounted for, the Valkyrie girl named Lyn having somehow managing to maintain her own footing. Kinko saw that the junior Lore Master was crouched beside her nominal mother while Ranko stood his ground next to Ranma. Both elders had easily weathered the blast as if shedding water off the proverbial duck's back, and this protective resilience seemed to translate to their respective offspring, so there was no need for any immediate concern to be turned in that direction.

But then Kinko turned her gaze back towards the glow of energy surrounding her half-brother and discerned that one figure did indeed need a rescue. Mace had somehow fallen through Ganymede's faltering globe of power and had nothing to grapple against as a sheer drop beckoned below the transformed cat-boy. Steeling herself against an instinctive reaction that any bird might naturally feel around a great cat, Kinko resolved to come to his rescue, vowing to herself that the rude boy would owe her for this later, and somehow she'd find a way to make him pay her back with interest!

Ganymede was straining as his arm looped around Shanma, who was reaching for her little brother to no avail even as the globe of force dissolved around them. Faced with the prospect of falling into oblivion with the girl he loved in his arms, Ganymede made a hasty choice and said, "Hold onto me and don't let go!"

"What?" Shanma asked, seeing Kinko suddenly appear directly underneath Mace and snatch her brother out of mid-air before he had fallen too far. Thus reassured that her brother was being cared for, she turned her attention back to her half-  
male companion, who had let go of her waist and was pulling out his enchanted bow and arrow, nocking and releasing a bolt in the space of one second. She suddenly found a very good reason to reach out and embrace the she-mail around the waist as Ganymede provided the only stable alternative against a long fall that no cat could survive regardless of how many lives they had left in reserve. It was certainly a reversal of positions to which her companion had no real objections.

Of the six members of their party who still maintained their footing on the bridge, only Freya and her daughter seemed to be in any real distress, and that mainly because they had taken the brunt of the attack by an unseen assailant whose force had proven to be nearly overwhelming.

"Who's that?" Ranma rumbled, seeing a shadowy figure framed in the corridor behind them.

"I'm not quite sure," Nabiki noted, "But...there is something about him that seems oddly familiar..."

"Well...how disappointing," Muhoshin drew attention back in his direction, "I thought for sure that would have killed at least a few of you. That's the trouble with you and your spawn, Saotome, you don't know when to die with dignity..."

"Look who's talking," Ranma growled, "You ain't even really alive anymore...you're like those walking dead guys outside. You boss just snatched you up and reanimated your corpse after you fragged yourself in our last battle."

"The idea was to frag you, but fortunately I get another chance," Muhoshin replied, "You have no idea what you are up against...that tiny flicker of a force you carry within you is barely even a candlewick to the flame that is our Master. But you won't have long to figure that one out for yourself, Saotome, or that bitch you call your partner!"

"Nice seeing you again too, Muhoshin-san," Nabiki replied, "Now let's get this over with, you're starting to bore me."

"Careful, Mom," Ranko-kun said, "I gotta feeling there's more than just these two guys waiting in the shadows."

"A very astute observation, Sister," Kachima remarked, "Be prepared for anything...this place seems to be filled with unpleasant surprises."

"Indeed it is," another hostile voice remarked, "As many as I can find to help me ward off unexpected intruders such as yourselves."

"Huh?" Ranma had started to turn around when a force came crashing down on them and drove the party to their knees from the sheer malevolent fury, and shortly after this he had lost consciousness, his last thoughts of protecting Nabiki, only now it seemed as if they had both survived, albeit not in such a state of grace as they would have preferred had they been given a list of options.

He was aware that he now hung by his wrists and ankles, which were embedded into some kind of crystalline substance that was draining his power levels and making him feel as weak as a kitten. A glance to one side showed him that Nabiki was in a similar such state of distress, even as on his opposite side the Lady Freya was similarly incapacitated, nor did it seem as if the three of them were the only ones to currently be trapped in the dark and dimly illuminated chamber.

Below him were a small group of dark clad figures, including Muhoshin and a familiar-looking man leaning his hands on what looked to be a bokken while in the background a huge, misshapen brute was glaring with eyes that were red and glowing...and standing at the center of this group was a man with long dark hair dressed like a princely nobleman from another time and era. It was to him that Ranma directed his gaze, recognizing as he did who was the true leader of this gathering of evil.

"Karadon."

"Saotome," the dark man acknowledged, "It's been a while...still among the living I see. You always were too stubborn for your own good."

"What can I say?" Ranma attempted to shrug and managed only a slight wince from the effort, "It's my trade specialty. So...you're the guy who threw together this rock-pile?"

"Do you like it?" the dark man smiled as he indicated their immediate surroundings with a nod of his head, "I'm rather proud of what I have created here...the first Pan-Dimensional Anti-Chronal Time Bomb ever to be crafted in existence, and I'm the first one on my block who gets to use it. You, of course, will have a front-row seat, but-sadly to say-you won't be able to appreciate it genius for very long since once it is activated it will cancel out your very existence."

"You really know how to make my day," Ranma replied, "But you shouldn't have gone to the trouble."

"Oh, but I think I should," the dark man smiled without the least hint of genuine humor, "Your very existence is a thorn in my side that can no longer be tolerated. I am going to remove you and all your counterparts from reality on ALL the timelines in which you exist. Your being a Temporal Nexus makes you the perfect instrument to accomplishing my schemes, and soon you won't even be a memory...all trace of you will be obliterated so that no one will ever even know that you ever existed!"

"Talk about overkill," Ranma sniffed, "You Guardians never could seem to do things in a small way."

"Pop?" he heard a now-female Ranko ask from somewhere close nearby, "You know these creeps?"

"We know of them" Nabiki spoke up, "And with very good reason. Karadon is a renegade from his people, who are the Guardians of the Earth, an elusive race of powerful multi-dimensional beings who are mostly charged with maintaining the balance and structure of our existence...only Karadon desires the opposite and seeks to destabilize reality as we know it."

"Sounds pretty much like those Scalawags we got up north in Niffleheim," Freya spoke up, "The bad blood cousins to the Frost and Fire giants who seek to bring about the final Ragnarok."

"This guy's much worse than that," Ranma insisted, "The Guardians are mostly like us Time Cops, only several levels farther removed from what's ordinary..."

"Oh please," Karadon sniffed, "You're comparing yourselves to US? That would be like an insect presuming an evolutionary link to its betters! My kind comes from a reality so near to the center of all things that we regard you petty Demines as lower Archons. We have the REAL power over subjective reality, you only think yourselves all-powerful and omniscient! The Guardians existed before any other race within the timestream, and we will continue to thrive long after you are dust and forgotten!"

"Yeah, yeah, heard it all before," Ranma said gruffly, "But I was answering my kid's question, it's awfully rude of you to interrupt me."

"Father," Kachima spoke up, "I do believe that I perceive now the nature of this trap into which we have been delivered. We have been placed at the very center core of the triggering mechanism that will set everything in motion, but it is you who will be the key to arming and focusing its energy. This device is set to key into your own quantum signature and will seek out the correlating energies of your counterparts throughout the many planes of existence. In effect it will use you as the key to bring about the end of everything...but I am a bit in the dark as to understand why such a thing should even be desired."

"It's simple, really," Nabiki answered her "daughter," "Out with the old, in with the new. First you destroy reality as we know it, then you reshape its very nature from a retrolinear point of your choosing."

"Ah...I begin to perceive now," Kachima replied, "In other words the Renegade seeks to remake everything into his own choosing and likeness. The raw energy that will be released by the explosion will give him the power that he needs to literally turn his ambitions into reality..."

"Otherwise he'd just be trying to remake another parallel of the already existing timeline," Lyn Reikou finished for her, "I think we covered this in one of my physics classes...only it doesn't seem so academic at the moment..."

"Congratulations for fathoming that out," Karadon said in idle amusement, "I can see your genes bred true in that one, Tendo, even diluted as they were by Saotome's blood. Yes indeed...this device will simultaneously destroy every version of Saotome Ranma that has ever existed and make scrap of any universe that uses him for its nexus. Those of you unfortunate enough to be in any way associated with him and his ilk will naturally share the fate of the worlds that you hailed from. It's rather neat and tidy if I do say so for myself. No more will you be a deterrent to my plans, Saotome...you die today for good and forever!"

"Gee," Ranma said, "I'm flattered that you went to all the trouble over me and all that, but you shouldn't have done it...really."

"Laugh all you want," Karadon remarked, "Soon my device will be in the correct position and alignment to maximize its effect, and then you will be learning what it feels like to be at the center of an exploding Super Nova. I will go on to finally create the world that I have always dreamed of making, and none of the other Guardians will dare to defy me...not even that bastard of a brother who's been knocking about throwing cogs into the wheels of my program."

"You mean Derek?" Nabiki spoke up, "Is he the one who has been responsible for the chain of events that brought us to your doorstep?"

"That's right," Karadon grinned, "He's the one you have to thank for your current state of misfortune, not me. I would have been perfectly content to set off my device without any of you being the wiser, but...come to think of it...I do rather prefer it this way. Having the chance to gloat in front of the two of you gives me so much satisfaction...I never really appreciated before what fun could be had in playing the Supervillain."

"Sugar," Freya growled, "When they were handing out the pills for Megalomania, you must've cut in line twice for second helpings."

"Who needs to be humble when reality itself will be my humble clay to shape as I desire?" Karadon reasoned, "Soon I will have more power than even you Gods could imagine, and I will be more than a God when I redraft a world that doesn't require any of you to be near its center."

"So what's the deal with the henchmen?" Ranko asked, "Who's that Muhoshin creep, and why does that one guy look so much that sword-guy, Tatewaki?"

"WHAT?" Freya and her daughter focused their attention to one of the shadowy figures standing beside the renegade Guardian. The outline shifted but the form remained the same, aloof and impassive.

"Kuno Tatewaki," Ranma softly averred, "He looks different...darker or something..."

"I sense a strong presence of evil about him," Nabiki shuddered, "That's not the Kuno-chan that I remember..."

"So dark...so evil..." Kachima whispered, "He has given himself utterly to the dark side...he is no longer even a man...he is something twisted and perverse, his mind wrapped around the black stone that is his ego..."

"You are referring to my colleague," Karadon indicated the dark man standing to his left side, "A Sith Lord named Darth Kuno, whose powers you so briefly felt back on that bridge. It was he who scattered your children and knocked them from the bridge into my pit of ultimate darkness."

"Darth Kuno," Ranma grumbled, "It figures. And of course I'd recognized Pantyhose anywhere. I always did think he looked better in his cursed half...but in the current case, I think I stand corrected."

The creature positioned behind Karadon made an inhuman noise similar to a mating between a Bull and a Grizzly and its eyes gleamed with a malevolent hate as it regarded the captive Saotome with no love lost at all in its expression.

"So," Ranma said, "You gathered up this rogue's gallery of the worst losers in reality and expect to start your own Otaka club with you as it's primary Idol?"

"Something like that," Karadon replied, "Genius needs to be appreciated, and who better to do so than those who stand united in their loathing of your very existence, Saotome? Besides...my associates appreciate the finer aesthetic of what I am seeking to accomplish, unlike you who prefers to leave things in to the whims of the blind fates. They know that they stand to profit when the New Order comes into existence and they will be my point-men in the reshaping of the Multiverse. Each one seeks to carve out and craft their own peculiar destiny where THEY will be the Nexus points around which to build the future! You won't even be a dull memory in the worlds that they shall dominate, but they will serve me willingly and achieve my goals in crafting the new reality...a reality that you will never witness!"

"Geez," Ranko murmured softly to herself, "This guy's one cracker short of a whole box."

"He is indeed a powerful madman," Kachima replied, "The worst sort of enemy that one could ask for when sitting atop a powerful explosive."

"Yeah," Lyn Reikou agreed, "I know guys back home who could take lessons in ranting from this joker."

"Okay," Ranma said, "Now that you've got the obligatory villain rant out of the way, mind answering me a question? Why'd you pick these second-raters when you could have gone for somebody with class, like Prince Herb of the Musk? You afraid he might be too much for you to handle?"

"You must be joking," Karadon snorted, "That sex-changing fool is hardly relevant to my ultimate schemes...after all, he merely wants to rule a backward province like China! I do have one version of him positioned within this stronghold to deal with any of your mongrel, bastard offspring who might have survived the fall into the pit, but I don't plan on taking him with me when reality is reshaped. He can go the way of the others when my device is fully activated."

"Nice to see that you have some appreciating of traditional values," Nabiki said, "Such as your loyalty to your henchmen, which is something to think about, don't you agree, Gentlemen?"

"HNG?" came the questioning note from the hulking Pantsaru Taro, who turned a curious glare at the renegade Guardian, as did Darth Kuno and Muhoshin.

Karadon was not laughing as he growled, "Razor witted and sharp tongued as always, eh Tendo? You have no idea how sad it makes me to see you tie your fate to that of Saotome...but then I guess I will just have to do without you in the new order...such a pity. Gentlemen...remember who has the real power here, and without me you won't survive the next thirty-seven minutes until the device is in position to be activated. You have cast your lot with me, and if I see anyone faltering now it will be most unfortunate for you...do you understand me?"

The trio of underlings signified that they did by returning their glare upon their captives.

"So much for the divide and conquer strategy," Freya mused, "Guess we're gonna have to fall back on one of my favorite Norn plot devices for situations like this."

"Plot devices, Mom?" Lyn Reikou asked.

On cue, a loud explosion shook the air and caused the chamber to reverberate with unexpected acoustics, staggering three of the four supervillains while causing Karadon to sigh in much-aggrieved exasperation.

"Like I said," the Goddess of Love and Battles grinned in vindication, "The Timely Intervention, always one of my favorites."

Another lesser explosion caused the room to vibrate, which prompted Ranma to say, "I take it that's the Magazine guy come calling?"

"Sure doesn't sound like Avon," Nabiki murmured.

"Excuse me," Karadon sighed, "It would seem that we have a case of rats in need of extermination. Go and see to it if you would be so kind, Lord Kuno."

The dark version of Tatewaki bowed his head and turned about, striding calmly off towards the source of those continuing explosions.

"Mom," Lyn Reikou murmured, "Dad's creeping me out..."

"That wasn't really your father, Honey," Freya replied, "Just looked a lot like him in a tall, dark and 'Take No Prisoners' kind of way..." she shuddered softly, "Niord's beard, I feel so horny!"

Nabiki turned her eyes to give the goddess a sidelong glance but said nothing, but on her face was a look of notable disquiet.

The echoes reverberated again, which prompted Karadon to say, "On second thought, you two have better go assist our dear Sith Lord. I perceive that we have more than one set of intruders presently making themselves into a collective nuisance. I cannot afford any interruptions at this delicate stage in my plans, so feel free to kill as many of them as you like.

"With pleasure," Muhoshin grinned like a skeletal rictus. The man-beast behind them just grunted.

"Trouble with some party crashers?" Ranko asked.

"It needn't concern you," Karadon replied as he dismissed his underlings with a wave of one hand, "You're not going anywhere at the moment...but it does seem as if my brother has been a bit too busy gathering his pawns to hurl at me. I may need to take a direct hand in their eradication. You will excuse me, I will be back before your final minutes are upon you."

With that the dark man turned about and exited the chamber, black cloak flapping about his shoulders in a most melodramatic fashion.

"Man, that creep plays it to the hilt," Ranko said in the ensuing silence, "Hey Pop, what did you do to tick a guy like that off so much that he'd go to all this trouble?"

"Ah, nothin' he didn't have coming," Ranma replied, "He's just a really sore loser."

"The kind that gives Megalomaniacs a bad name, Sugar," Freya observed, "So...who's this Derek guy, and what's he got to do with our being mixed up in all this?"

"Derek is the rightful Guardian of the Timestream," Nabiki replied, "He can be both a friend and a foe, depending on if you cross him, but generally he favors the stability of existence and will only make tailored alterations wherever he sees fit...not perform radical surgery as Karadon is attempting."

"He sounds like someone we could very much use under the circumstances, Mother," Kachima remark, "Fortunately for us, Shanma and the others are still very much alive and kicking...and I think we have even more powerful allies closer to hand if I am not too mistaken."

All at once the air before them shimmered and a new pair of figures appeared upon the ledge facing them, dressed in oddly high-tech armor. One of them...a dark haired girl and the more obviously human of the pair, called out to them, "Just hang tight, Uncle Saotome! We'll get you down from there in no time, right Partner?"

"I am attempting to analyze the composition of the substance which is presently restraining your Aunt and Uncle," said an Elvish-looking blonde beside her, "I believe it is negatively charged so as to absorb life energies, thus rendering them weak and helpless...but if I were to reverse the charge on my own energy sword..."

"Well, don't wait around for applause, Honey," the first girl urged, "Get to it."

"Hai," the pointy-eared blonde replied, and suddenly there was a blazing beam of ivory light gripped in both hands as she leaped into the air and took a slash at the pillar to which Ranma and the others were currently attached. There was an immediate reaction as energy met counter-energy in a selectively applied explosion, and then Ranma found himself tumbling forward, to be caught and carried to the ledge by the dark haired girl, who worked quickly to transport him and the others to safety.

"There we go, Uncle," the dark haired girl remarked, "Safe and sound with nothing broken..."

"Ah...thanks," Ranma coughed, feeling his energy levels begin to slowly return to near-normal, "But...um...who are you?"

"Very funny, Uncle," the dark haired girl frowned, "It's me...Muku Dori. Rhea-  
chan and me came to rescue you while the Bad Guy's occupied with somebody else. Now...can you guys move or do you need to be carried?"

"We can handle ourselves, young lady," Nabiki forced herself to stand in spite of a certain quavering about her legs, "But I think you may need to know something before it causes us too much confusion..."

"Ah...can we put a raincheck on that, Auntie?" Muku glanced to one side, "I don't think the Big Nasty is gonna take long in figuring out that we're in here. Me and Rhea have our Stealth field in place, but if that guy is tough enough to take down Uncle Ranma like he has..."

"We get you, Sugar," Freya replied, "You okay about moving, Honey?"

"I'll manage, Mom," Lyn Reikou replied, resting her hands on her knees as though partially winded, "How about you guys?"

"I appear to be ambulatory," Kachima answered.

"What she said," Ranko agreed, "Well, Pop...what's the call here? Do we stand and fight or take a powder?"

"Standing our ground isn't a good call," Ranma said, "We're too near to that pillar thingie that's been draining us. I fight better out in the open, where I can see everything that's coming at me."

"Agreed," Nabiki averred, "Better to choose when and where to make our stand rather than have it chosen for us."

"I'll take Point," Ranma said, "Kid...you cover my flank. Nabs, you stay with me where I can see you, that creep will probably try and get to me through you, and I want you ready."

"I am always ready around you, Saotome," Nabiki smirked, "But for similar reasons I want Kachima-chan to stand at our center with Lyn Reikou. Lady Freya, you protect our rear."

"On you like flypaper, Sugar," Freya grinned, "The rear always was one of my best positions."

"And you guys..." Ranma hesitated, "Muku Dori was it?"

"Sanzenen," Rhea said helpfully, "My family name is Kano."

"You don't need to worry about us, Uncle Saotome," Muku assured, "We can handle ourselves if there's any problems."

"Sanzenen?" Nabiki hesitantly repeated, "And your mother...was Akane?"

"Huh?" Ranko asked, "Mom?"

"Interesting," Kachima murmured.

"Oboy," Ranma's eyes got very wide when he heard this, "Not...not Mikado of all people?"

"What's wrong?" Muku asked in genuine confusion, "Uncle Saotome...you act like you've never seen us before! What's the deal here..."

"No time for that now, Sugar," Freya insisted, "There are bad guys at large here and that's gotta take precedence over the small stuff."

"Mom's right," Lyn Reikou said, "We can sort out the rest of this later, if we're still able."

"Yeah, but...Mikado?" Ranma shook his head in disbelief, "Weird..."

"Whatever," Ranko said as she started to move forward, only to halt in mid-  
stride as a familiar pulsing sensation came over her, causing her to remark, "Uh oh..."

"Uh oh?" Nabiki turned to her, "You don't mean?"

"I'm sorry, Mom...I can't seem to fight it," Ranko replied, "I'm being pulled out of here...and I mean right now!"

"Kid?" Ranma turned around with a look of alarm and started to reach for her, "Ranko!"

"Pop-!" Ranko tried to reach for him but just as their hands were about to touch she became immaterial and faded out from the chamber. For her it was as if everything had suddenly gone to gray as colors faded into a hazy mist, and then she found herself once more in transition between one place and the other, only this time to find herself in a VERY different setting from any that she had previous occasion to visit.

"What the...?" Ranko looked around at a bleak and desolate landscape that stretched out in all directions. The sky was impossibly dark and full of more stars than she had ever imagined to find in existence. To one side there were abandoned ruins of some sort of palatial structure now mostly buried and forgotten, while the sand that crunched beneath her feet was so dry and lifeless that she wondered if it could ever have felt the touch of moisture.

"Curious," a voice at her side remarked, "How very different from what I would have expected."

"HUH?" she whirled to find Kachima standing beside her while the rest of their group was no where in evidence, which prompted her to say, "How did you...?"

"I hitched a ride with you," Kachima remarked, "A curious business this traveling between worlds and bodies...it's remarkable how well you seem to have adapted, Sister. Fortunately the energy wave that drew you from that place is of a type that I could replicate within myself...but I find myself marveling at the intelligence that has brought us to this fallen complex."

"And well you should," said a suave and unmistakably male voice, "But if you want to talk impressive, you should have seen this place when it was in its heyday."

"Who are you?" Ranko asked as she started to turn around, only to fall into a ready stance as her first impression was that of Karadon stand within easy reach of her fists, "YOU-?"

"No," Kachima's hand on her shoulder steadied her, "This is not him...though I sense they are of a close relationship."

"Good instincts you've got there, Kid," the man nodded affably, "You're gonna make one hell of a Lore Master."

"Then who...?" Ranko started to say, then answered her own question, "You mean...you're that guy that's been doing everything to me lately?"

"Guilty as charged," the handsome man nodded in an almost friendly manner, "Pleased to finally meet you...you can call me Derek."

"The Guardian of Reality," Kachima murmured.

"I've been called that...and worse," the handsome, lordly figure responded.

"Derek?" Ranko looked him up and over, then said, "My folks...?"

"Which ones?" Derek smiled, "You mean your adopted father and mother? They're still back in the Dark Citadel of Evil. It's right over there if you care to take a gander."

"Huh?" Ranko followed the man's gesture and saw something that looked like an egg-shaped bubble floating in the middle of empty space, and in the center of this hung a walnut-sized object...so far off it seemed impossible to conceive, yet so hear that she almost felt as if she could touch it, the perspective dwarfing her ability to grasp in merely three dimensions.

"I see," Kachima mused, "So...that is the fragment of Nemesis that has been turned into a weapon of ultimate destruction...and we are not on the Earth itself, are we?"

"We're not?" Ranko blinked, "But...where...?"

"The Blue Area of the Moon, of course," Derek replied, "The only place on this body that's still capable of supporting life, after a fashion. Did it feel to you like you were breathing in vacuum? Trust me, talking's a problem without a medium to conduct conversation."

"The Moon?" Ranko blurted out, then turned and saw a blue-white object hanging like a marble in space, even farther away than the planetoid-sized Dark Citadel. Somehow, she knew, she had arrived here without requiring the use of a spaceship, and as she contemplated the question of getting back she suddenly had a humbling grasp of how small and insignificant her life could seen when viewed from such a distance.

"My Lord," Kachima remarked, "You have obviously contrived to bring us here for a purpose..."

"To be a little more specific, I was bringing her, but I guess I don't mind the two-for-one package special," Derek shrugged, "Since you're both Saotomes you have an equal stake in what's about to happen, but if you play along with what I have to propose I think we can pull this off without the prospect of Multiversal annihilation. So...what about it kids, care to save the day and all that? I don't want to put any pressure on you, but the fate of the Earth in a couple zillion dimensions is depending on you cooperation."

"Of course I am more than willing to do my part," replied Kachima, "And may I take it the same holds true for you, Sister?"

"Oboy," the redheaded girl murmured aloud, "Well...I guess I'm in for the distance. I mean...if reality goes blooey, where am I gonna hang my wall posters or put my goldfish?"

"That's the ticket," Derek smiled as he clapped his hands together, "That Pendant thing chose well when it picked you out of a line-up. Here's the deal, Kiddies...we're going to hit my little Bro with a blitzkrieg offensive, go all out to take down his allies, then neutralize his killer toy, after which I'll take over."

"You call that a plan?" Ranko blinked.

"Sure," Derek smiled, "You got a better proposal?"

"Ah...no," Ranko exchanged looks with Kachima, who shrugged her own shoulders and said, "Works for me too, Sister."

"Then let's get started," Derek replied, "All jokes aside, Time is of the essence."

Once again Ranko felt herself fading out of reality, but to her surprise she found Kachima's hand holding hers as the two Sisters Saotome (and Tendo) began their trek in search of reinforcements...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Silver Millennium Memorial Plates: shadowmane

Ranko and her crew finally join the party while the rest of the kids shake it up in the Citadel, and just how many kids does it take to wreck the schemes of a Megalomaniac with Genocidal intentions? Would you believe...the Spawn of MIHOSHI? Be here next time for: "Mulligan Stew ala Carte," or "If All Acquaintance Be Not Forgot, then you're simply not trying very hard!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	20. Chapter 20

RanCubed19

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and Others,  
including my fellow fanfic writers, Nicole Manders, Gregg Sharp and DB Sommers, who provided some of the characters and concepts that have appeared in this series, and to TH Tiger for his generous support and advice in the writing of this and many other projects)

Chapter Nineteen.

The Incredible Light-Headedness of Being

Continuum # 59343921

The way to Washu's laboratory was fraught with perils for the unwary. This was necessarily so, for the self-described "Greatest Genius in the Galaxy" was rather zealous about her privacy, preferring only the company of a few close family friends and family, which excluding others by deliberate choice. The outward trail was lined with highly dangerous snares, booby-traps and unexpected surprises meant to catch unwanted intruders up and isolate them so that they could become the subjects of later experiments. The outside trail was even lined with signs that warned, "KEEP OUT!" "NO TRESPASSING!" "VISITORS WILL BE DISECTED ON SIGHT!" and, of course, "THIS MEANS YOU, MIHOSHI!"

The outer entrance to the lab was cleverly disguised as a harmless looking mountain in the rustic countryside, but that was just to fool the tourists, for in actuality the doorway opened out into another dimension, a pocket-realm designed by Washu to house her main laboratories, which were themselves so vast that they contained the combined mass of three solar planets. It was a complex of interlocking realms where experiments too dangerous and bizarre to be safely tested on a celestial body could be performed in relative safety. Specimens gathered from entire galaxies were on display in numerous Bio-habitats and enough machinery to manufacture entire stars and planets were housed in store rooms for whenever they might be needed by their Mistress.

It was not commonly known beyond the Masaki clan, but Washu, the 20,000 year old former head of the Galactic Science Academy was in fact a highly evolved being whose powers ranged beyond those of lesser mortals. She was, in fact, a member of a troika of Multi-Dimensional spirits, (albeit by far the most human of three sisters), the other two parts being the godlike Lady Tokima and the unearthly Tsunami, Spirit Guardian of Jurai, now currently soul-bonded to the Princess Sasami. Although, by personal preference, Washu preferred to appear in the form of a young girl, she was, in fact, among the most dangerous beings ever to grace a humble planet like Terra. It was only her quirky personality and general good nature that kept her impulses in line, and even then her insatiable curiosity could still sometimes get her into a great deal of trouble.

Give all of that, it was amazing to think that there was any being in the galaxy who would be so foolish as to attempt to sneak into her lab complex by means of one of the dimensional doors that connected to the Masaki household. That said being had a curiosity as insatiable as a cat only made her seem more reckless and brazen than daring, ESPECIALLY when that somehow had a penchant for mischief and trouble to rival that of both of her parents. She had been any times scolded and told to stay far away from the laboratory, but stubborn pride and a need to know where all of her friends were about at the moment prompted Kuramitsu Kihoshi to risk another scolding rather than be left out on all the fun that guys like Ryeka and Tenko were doubtlessly having. All she needed was a good look, after all, and then she would be on her way, preferably before her Aunt Washu was any the wiser. After all, what was the harm in that, and as a Junior Galaxy Detective-in-Training she had to get some practice breaking into places like this somehow and somewhere, right? Besides, she was certain that she could explain herself to Washu and her parents if anyone were to find her on the stairs poised to open that closet door and...

"Hey, whatcha doing, Kihoshi?"

"GAK!" the copper skinned girl nearly jumped through the ceiling as she whirled around and said, "Teneka-kun! Don't ever do that!"

"Do what?" asked Teneka, the spitting image of his father, "Are you trying to get into Grandmother's lab again? Honestly, Kihoshi-chan, don't you think there might be a reason why she doesn't want you in there?"

"Mind your own business!" Kihoshi snapped, flustered at the sight of the handsome boy for reasons that only partially had to do with the hammering in her chest, "I wasn't sneaking about, I was...ah just, ah...testing to see how good Auntie's defenses have gotten since the last time..."

"Geez, that was only a couple of days ago, three at tops," Teneka complained, "And don't you usually just sail on past Grandmother's defenses like they aren't even there?"

"That's too easy!" Kihoshi sniffed, "What's the challenge of bypassing a security without taking the time to study it and find out how it's supposed to work? They won't let me get into the Galaxy police just 'cause I've got this weird talent of picking my way through traps and stuff."

"Whatever," Teneka wondered why all of the women in his life were either so exotic or so crazy...or both, but he had to allow that Kihoshi was far from the worst of the bunch, "Anyway, I was on my way to see Grandmother, would you like to tag along? I'm sure she won't mind if you're with me."

"Ah..." there was only the slightest of hesitation before Kihoshi adopted a patently false look of stoical indifference and said, "I might as well...you've ruined my concentration."

She just hoped she didn't seen too eager to use the excuse to get nearer to his presence. After all, aside from being well-to-do, intelligent and handsome, he was one of the few unattached boys in their class, and with the rather sharp decline of HETEROSEXUAL couples in their youth group of late, a girl could do worse than to snag him up before anybody else put a bid into the competition.

Teneka opened the door to what appeared to be a closet and they found themselves in the turbovator that would whisk them to the central laboratory in a matter of seconds. During that time Kihoshi chanced to remark, "So...you think your sisters are already with Auntie Washu helping her out with one of her experiments?"

"I gathered that the Monster and Oneechan were there already," Teneka replied, "But Grandmother wasn't too specific about the details for why she wanted me to be there, so I guess we'll find out the hard way."

"The Monster" was Teneka's way of affectionately describing his half-sister, Ryeka, while he always addressed his other sister, Tenko, in terms more affectionate between siblings. Kihoshi was close friends with both girls and could understand the basis for which the boy might come to feel that way, seeing as how Ryeka was such a wild woman at time, while Tenko was more like an angel. Both could be rather intimidating in their own distinctive ways, being two of the strongest fighters on the planet.

To his credit, however, Teneka did have some advantages that put him near to the same playing field, not least of which were his martial arts training and Jurai powers, both of which were substantial and impressive.

The elevator opened onto the main level and the two teenagers stepped out to find that others had preceded them to the complex, and Washu was commanding the scene in her usual way, working the controls while one of her displays was playing out some weird astronomical phenomenon, no doubt the current object of her intensive studies. It was, however, very odd to find Tenko with several of her closest friends in attendance, and no sign of Ryeka anywhere (which suggested that this was one of Washu's science lectures, a thing to which that particular Masaki sibling was notoriously allergic, and with good reason).

Of more immediate concern to Kihoshi, however, was the sight of two of the adults standing with Washu, one being everyone's favorite Aunt Sasami, the other being none other than Kihoshi's biological...

"Fama?"

"Hey Kid, glad you showed up," Kiyone acknowledged her only daughter, "Only you don't have to try so hard next time. I was half ready to go up there and fetch you myself."

"Don't embarrass her, Kiyone," Sasami teased, "Hey Nephew, glad you could join us!"

"What's up?" Teneka asked, "What's everybody doing here, and what's that thing?"

"One question at a time, young Princes," Ekko responded with her usual aloof analyticism, "We're still fathoming out the details for ourselves, and you've just walked into the middle of our little research program."

"It's something very ominous and threatening to our reality, possibly all realities little Brother," Tenko explained, "We believe that this is where Ryeka was sent with a recent acquaintance whom we found together. There seems to be some sort of movement afoot that could potentially destroy creation as we know it and we believe an evil intelligence is behind this movement..."

"And not just any kind of evil intelligence," Veil added, "We believe a force that can manipulate time and space at will is behind the crafting of this terrible object. We must stand ready if we are to be able to assist your sister."

"Hah?" Teneka said as he absorbed all of this, then turned to the one he considered most sensible in this line-up, the purple-haired Lylac, "Oneechan is in trouble?"

"You ever known a time when she wasn't?" Lylac replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Good point," Teneka turned back to his other sister and said, "What did she do this time?"

"Apparently nothing that she initiated," Tenko replied, "For once Neechan isn't the instigator of trouble but got swept up into something by a force whose power is so great that it was even able to hijack Great Grandmother's transfer disk and transport her to a parallel dimension."

"Say what?" Kihoshi turned and asked, "Professor Washu...is this true? Did Ryeka get snatched up and transported to another dimension...and they didn't include us?"

"That's the deal, Kiddo," Washu affirmed.

"That's not fair! Kihoshi wailed, "How am I supposed to get any training in serious adventures if that half-witted mop-head gets taken while I get left behind? It's a conspiracy I tell you...!"

"Calm down, Kid," Kiyone told her daughter, appalled at just how much like her mother Kihoshi was sounding, "You'll get your chance to take part in the rescue mission. In fact we're all going to pitch in on this...at least that's the plan that Little Washu here has been able to put together."

"All of us?" Teneka asked, "What about my mothers?"

"This is a highly dangerous and sensitive mission, Teneka-chan," Washu replied, "Do you really want to bring them in on something like this?"

"Ah...good point," Teneka conceded.

"Same reason why we're leaving your big sister Miyaka out of this," Sasami added, "She's happy in college, just like Minagi, who's out cruising the solar system."

"I don't get it," Kihoshi said, "I can see why you need Teneka-chan and these others, but what do you need me for? Not that I won't do my part, of course, but..."

"You have your mother's talent for mischief," Kiyone smiled at her daughter, "And you can get into things a lot better than I can. We need you to help get these others past some heavy-duty security so they can do their thing and help rescue Ryeka."

"You need me to pick a lock or something?" Kihoshi grinned, "Radical, then count me in!"

"Then get yourself suited up like the others," Washu urged, "I'd reading an energy fluctuation in the field protecting the object, which means another opening should make itself known at any second."

"Aunt Kiyone," Teneka asked, "What are you and Aunt Sasami going to do?"

"You'll find out soon enough, Kid," Kiyone nodded, "Let's just say it's the kind of mission your Dad would feel at home with if he were going on this one."

"Hurry up and get ready," Washu instructed, "That opening could occur at any second."

"Okay," Teneka replied, and then a ring about his finger glowed to life, and all at once his outward garb changed from a school uniform to something more ultra-  
tech and sleek, even as Kihoshi did the same thing, reveling in the way her outfit played up the curves of her figure so nicely.

There was a shimmering of light and suddenly yet another figure made its appearance, a small furry form that went, "Meow?"

"That's right, young lady," Washu replied, "You're going on this one too, so get ready."

"Meow!" the furry Cabbit replied, and then expanded out to full adult human size, "Ready when you are, Great-Grandmother!"

"Ryo-Uki?" Teneka asked.

"What's she doing here?" Kihoshi growled as she noticed the way the boy beside her was ogling the near-naked human Cabbit.

"Her part is as important as your own," Ekko assured her, "After all...one of her sisters is currently engaged in the operation along with Ryeka."

"This party is starting to look overly familiar," Lylac murmured in mild dismay.

"Indeed," Tenko smiled, "All that's missing is your friend Ranko."

"Indeed," Veil remarked, "I wonder what your paratime sister is doing at the moment?"

"Having fun up to her neck most likely," Ekko mused softly, "And if I'm not too mistaken she is probably only one of many players we have yet to meet experiencing their own peculiar cross-time adventures..."

Continuum: # 985643217

Roll Call:

Ryoma Saotome -Son of Ukyo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Inaho and Mosquiton the Vampire, 1/8th Vampyr Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Shampoo and Konatsu, Mage/Wicca in training Tachi Kuno -Son of Nabiki and Tatewaki, Nampo Kendo Ryu Efreet Mizuhara -Adopted daughter of Ifurita and Makoto, Demon-Goddess Minos Tarot -Son of Kasumi and Pantsaru, Shotokan Ryu Wanda Kenshiro -Daughter of Ranma and Aila, Fist of the North Star

Touga Kuno -Son of Ranma and Tatewaki, Daimyo, Kendo Master Ryonosuke Senzenen -Son of (?) and Mikado Senzenen, Family Retainer Xandar Kurunei -Son of Kaori and Sasuke, House Ninja Yoriko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and (?), House Ninja Minx Tendo -Daughter of Akane and a Wood Sprite, Changeling Ninja

Onnama Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Ryoga, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Idou Kuonji -Son of Ukyo and Akane, Anything Goes Cooking Kanazuchi Tendo -Daughter of Ranma and Akane, Tendo Anything Goes Ryu Koku Tendo -Daughter of Shampoo and Nabiki, Financial Wizard Neko Tendo -Twin sister of Koku, blue haired Cultural Cat Girl

"Amazing!" Touga exclaimed as he surveyed the books in the school library, "Such incredible stores of advanced knowledge...and all made available for the students of this common-level education center?"

"Sure enough, Bro," Onnama said simply as she seemed faintly amused by the aristocratic boy's "Kid in a Candy Store" behavior, "Feel free to browse around to your heart's content."

"Incredible," Touga marveled as he fingered through one book, finding neatly printed text with pictures, flipping the pages with eyes as round as saucers, "And you don't even have to pay a price for such a privilege?"

"Are you kidding?" Ryoma-chan sniffed, "You'd have to pay some guys to show their face in this place, which is why we should have all the privacy we need while we compare notes and get better acquainted."

"You must be joking," Touga replied as he fingered through another book with a reverential expression, "This incredible fortune of knowledge...and you don't even have guards posted at the exits?"

"Not much need for them here, Kinsman," Tachi replied, "Most of what you see here is common knowledge and in widespread distribution. A specialist in any field can come here and do research for a paper or a report, even read fictionalized novels for their off-hours amusement."

"This is almost beyond belief," Touga averred as he studied yet a third book with even greater attention to the text, "You have no idea what a work of this nature would be worth on my world...and yet you treat this priceless knowledge as if it were of no great consequence...and yet how do you keep things organized?"

"Simple," Tarot replied, "The works are organized and catalogued according to what we call the Dewey Decimal system. Subjects are classified by the numbers on their spine, and if you can read the lettering..."

"Yes, I am familiar with English numerals," Touga nodded soberly, "An incredible idea that...to file and catalogue, store and index for easy location of any work that you might desire to peruse...I have heard that German scholars use some similar such method for their universities, and a Chinese scribe whom I once knew as a tutor explained how scrolls were kept in the Imperial palace of the Forbidden City..."

"Geez," Ifurita exclaimed, "The way the guy's acting you'd think he's never seen a library before."

"I can completely understand his interest," Wanda remarked, "In my own world such knowledge as is contained in these books has been a forgotten and undervalued commodity. Such books are just as often to be burned for fuel as to be used for toilet paper..."

"Yeesh, now there's a mental image I could have done without," Koku winced.

"Oh, I don't know," her sister, Neko, responded, "I've read some books that were little better than toilet paper..."

"Okay," Carmine replied, "I think we've dwelled long enough on Prince Ego's neglected education. Now...what the heck kind of world did we wind up in this time? I mean...it looks like our world, but here the guy who looks like Ryoma really is a girl..."

"Yeah, I know," Ryoma turned to regard Onnama, "You don't seem to have any problem with the idea that the two of us are related?"

"Hey, with all the crazy stuff that goes on in my life, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing to run into another kinsman...or girl...whichever you are."

"I'm a guy," Ryoma-chan glanced down at her kimono-clad self then added, "I just don't look it at the moment."

"You would if you weren't afraid of going drag in that Kimono you're wearing," Tachi teased, "Personally I think you look just darling."

"Don't push it," Ryoma growled in irritation, reflexively reaching for her ever-  
present "spatula of doom," only to check the impulse at the last instant.

"Weird," Idou remarked, "You've got a bakers peel like me and know the Kuonji style of cooking, but your Dad was really Onnama's Mom, and you Mom was the same as me. Talk about confusing!"

"Confusing?" Ryoma sniffed, "You don't know the half of it, Bro. See that snow-  
capped mountain of Fem over there? She's also a Saotome...only her Mom was some girl named Aila. And the guy with her's named Taro Minos, and his Mom was your Aunt Kasumi."

"Say what?" Onnama replied, "You've got to be joking!"

"Yeah," Kanazuchi remarked, "Everybody knows Aunt Kasumi's happily shacked up with Uncle Genma and Aunt Nodoka."

This time even Tarot blinked her eyes in dismay, and Tachi murmured aloud, "I'm not even going to ask for the details..."

"Incredible," Touga exclaimed as he stared in amazement at one book, "So you fix the primer cap into a brass casing and add the explosive element with a neutral component to render it stable, and with a lead bullet packing it in the resulting shell is effectively water-proofed and can be fired through a breach-  
loading revolver..."

"You sure it's a good idea to let him read that stuff?" Carmine asked in a low tone, "Sounds like he's more than a century behind us in technology, and given he's a Daimyo with ambitions to be a Shogun on his world..."

"It might be borrowing trouble for the people in his version of Japan to let him find out too much advanced knowledge," Tachi solemnly nodded.

"I'm not so sure that it would be a bad thing to give him a taste of our world," Tarot mused, "Provided someone steers his course in the right direction."

"Are you volunteering?" Efreet asked in surprise, "I thought you were hooked on Ryoma."

"Yeah," Carmine growled, "Only that guy's more your type anyway so you might as well pick him and make yourself into a princess."

"Huh?" Ryoma turned to stare at the blue haired Amazon Mage, seeing a speculative gleam in her crimson eyes of which she found that she mightily disapproved.

"Tempting, but you're right, I've already given my heart to Ryo-chan, so while his brother has many fine points that I could easily adapt to, I will stay in my world with the man of my desires," Tarot gave a winsome smile that made Ryoma swallow on a suddenly dry mouth.

"My lord," Senzenen appeared from the hallway, "We have secured the perimeter and insured that the locals will not be a problem."

"Not a problem?" Ryoma frowned, "I hope you guys didn't mess anybody up around this place..."

"No harm was rendered to the students and faculty of this facility," Touga replied from where he was leafing through yet another volume, "My people will respect the citizens of this reality insofar as we are able, but neither will they allow us to be interrupted while we conduct this little session. By the way...this Napoleon sounds like he was quite a fellow. I believe I recall some obscure mention of a general by that name who served under King Louis the XIX...created a link between the Franco-Prussian alliance and the Ottoman Empire that maintained the peace in Europe for an entire generation."

"In our world he met his Waterloo," Koku idly noted.

"Indeed...that is often the price of having too much ambition," Touga replied sadly, "One oversteps one's limits and the boundary line between pride and hubris, which tempts the wrath of the heavens. A man must know how far his reach can extend or he will earn the envy and wrath of those jealous of his accomplishments. It seems this fellow aspired to be another Alexander, but like my ancestor, Tokugawa, he met a bad end having succeeded only in uniting his enemies against him."

"Sounds like things really did happen differently in your world," Neko noted, "Are you really a Baron from the late Feudal era?"

"Late Feudal era," Touga repeated as he closed the book in his hands with an audible thump, "I guess to you people my time and place does seem rather backwards and primitive...but then so many things appear to have failed to happen on my world that would account for our slower rate of progress. The American colonial revolt failed to result in a more progressive system of Democratic rule...no Republican forms of government arose to replace the archaic system of aristocratic rule by a progressively inbred and fractious dynasty of contentious nobles. The mercantile classes never rose to the prominence that they clearly did in this time, nor were trade unions able to form to provide for a better living for the working classes. Indeed...in all respects this world seems more desirable...and yet how odd that the denizens in this world seem oblivious to their own great good fortune."

"That's the nature of humanity, my Lord," Senzenen replied, "We prize not what we are unaware of, but miss when it is absent."

"Doubtless you are correct, my faithful friend," Touga sighed, "But perhaps that is the blessing that comes with being of common birth...not to be burdened with too much knowledge that might complicate their daily existence. Perhaps that burden was only meant to be carried upon the shoulders of those few who live in the proper time and place to make a difference. Perhaps that is the true meaning of what it is to be a hero, whether our path be grand or tragic in its outcome..."

"Uh..." Onnama eyed her paratime brother dubiously then turned to Ryoma and said, "Are you sure this guy's a Kuno? He's actually making sense..."

"I know," Tachi smiled, "Scary isn't it?"

"I wouldn't be one to talk too big about scary," Ryoma noted, "I mean...you're telling me on this timeline Dad got trapped in his girl half, and your Dad is my Uncle Ryoga? I mean...not to beat a dead horse, but...sheesh!"

"You're telling us about it?" Idou replied, "Onna-chan can be a little scary even when she's not half-trying."

"Oh yeah?" Onnama balled her fists and growled, "Well look who's talking!"

"Indeed," Koku smiled, "Our Aunt Akane is the father of both you and Kanazuchi, thanks to the miracle of the boy-curse that she fell under."

"Aunt Akane turns into a guy?" said Minos as he turned from the private conversation that he had been having with Wanda, "Now that is scary!"

"What's so scary about it?" Kanazuchi growled defensively, "Is that any worse than my Mom turning into a GUY?"

"Ah...just for the record," Tarot raised a finger, "Your mother was Ranma and your father was Akane, right?"

"You catch on fast, Sis," Neko grinned, "Our Aunt is actually our Uncle and she wears the real pants in our family, Momma Ukyo not withstanding."

"This is all very interesting," said Xandar as he all but materialized from between two sets of bookshelves, "But I fear we may have a problem, Lord. Though Yoriko-chan and I have managed to deter potential intruders upon this study, there is one approaching who may prove to be more formidable than even we who serve you loyally can hope to overcome."

"You don't mean...?" Touga registered genuine concern in his eyes bordering on actual terror.

"We fear so, My Lord," said Yoriko as she, too, materialized out of the shadows, "It is the High Priestess of the Osaka Shrine, Lady Ninamiya Hinako herself..."

"The Principal?" Onnama said in alarm.

"Uh oh," Idou said, "We're in big trouble now!"

"Quick," Koku said, "Anybody want to buy an alibi off of me, dirt cheap?"

"Well, that confirms it," Tachi mused, "She and I are definitely related..."

"Nasty spirit-drainer come," said Minx as she really did materialize out of seeming nothingness, "Minx think bad stay she find us."

Wanda turned to see the rain-bow haired mop head standing close enough to her side to touch, and clenched her hand as she seriously considered it, wondering why-in the light of all that had so recently happened between them-she did not feel greater anger directed towards this annoying little nuisance.

"I think, if your Hinako is anything like the Principal on my world," Ryoma began, "Then we really ought to be leaving here in a hurry...catch my drift?"

"Completely," Touga sighed as he closed another book, "This wondrous place is far too tempting, but too much knowledge, as you say, can be dangerous in one sitting. I am grateful for the honor and the privilege of having even a glimpse into the wonders of what might have been had events shaped themselves in a different direction."

"There may still be hope for your world," Tarot remarked, "If you should survive to lead your people there may yet be a golden era...a Meiji period such as you have only dreamed."

"Perhaps it is so, dear lady," Touga replied, "I do indeed hope that this may one day be the truth, but what you have told me about a mysterious power that is moving us from plane to plane may not permit things to proceed as we would wish it."

"I'm sorry to say that you may be right, Brother," Tachi remarked, "As yet we have no idea what that power is or why it is acting the way it has, but we're fairly certain that our travels have far from reached their conclusion."

"Yeah, well..." Ryoma winced, "If Principal Hinako is about to put in an appearance, then I wish those powers would hurry up and get on with it before..."

There was a faint shimmer in the air, followed by a loud explosion, then from the entrance of the library a figure stepped forward, towering in her rage and authority as she surveyed the oddly dressed teenagers currently gathered in the library and at once demanded, "Who is responsible for this? What Juvenile Delinquency are you deviants plotting here, and who blocked off access to the library?"

"Oh no," Xandar audibly swallowed.

"Priestess Hinako," Yoriko sounded no less intimidated.

The Principal was tall and very athletic looking with a remarkably handsome face that gave little hint to her actual age, and in one hand she held up an ominous-  
looking coin that those who knew her were staring at as though it were a loaded weapon.

"Oh great," Onnama grumbled, "How am I gonna explain this one?"

"Principal," Idou stepped forward, "Have you met our cousins from out of town? They were going to help us in putting on a school play..."

"Hey, that's not bad," Koku remarked with a raised eyebrow, "Mind if I borrow it for later?"

"A school play?" the Principal asked skeptically, only to find a very handsome youth attired like ancient nobility standing before her and bowing his head in a surprisingly regal manner.

"Gentle headmistress of this esteemed educational establishment," Touga said suavely as he straightened up and made eye-contact, beaming like the most benevolent man in all of creation, "Please pardon that we asked for privacy while we rehearsed our Kabuki recital. I know we are not properly dressed for students of this academy, but as we are not from this part of town we hoped you would forgive the deficiency in our manners."

"Ah...well...that's all right...I mean..." Principal Hinako seemed momentarily taken aback by the good looking boy's outgoing charm and manners.

"There is no need for words, beauteous maiden," Touga said grandly, "You honor us with your radiant glory and we stand in awe of the majesty that you bring before our unworthy presence. Please do not permit anger to color your judgement of we humble performers."

"Hooo," Ryoma exclaimed in a soft voice, "Pretty slick."

"Whoah," Onnama raised both eyebrows, "You sure he's a Kuno?"

"Even I'm starting to wonder," Tachi admitted in a sotto voice.

"Well...if you are putting on a class play," Principal Hinako hesitantly responded, "You should have consulted with me and obtained permission for the use of the library. The Kami know it doesn't see enough use by the students."

"You are too right," Touga replied, "An oversight, it shall happen again, you have my word on this."

"Well..." Hinako smiled, "You are a charming fellow, and I can see you have better manners than the juvenile delinquents I have to deal with all of the time. Keep up the good performance and I'll see to that you have official school backing."

"You are too kind," Touga bowed again, "A kindness exceeded only by your beauty."

"Oh," Hinako backed away, "You...you really mustn't say things like that...I'm much older than you, it's just not proper..."

"Nonsense," Touga replied, "You have the freshness of a spring daisy with the delicate texture of cherry blossoms in their season. No man could ever think you anything but young and lovely, and it is more than your majesty or the awe beheld by your presence that would make men bow to you in worship."

"Now that sounds more like a Kuno," Idou murmured, "Except this guy seems to know what he's doing."

"Well...if you really must speak that way," Hinako smiled, "Then I guess I should leave you to your practice. By all means inform me of when your play is ready, I would very much like to see you-I mean it again...taa-taa..."

"Taa-Taa?" Kanazuchi repeated as she blinked her eyes once the brown haired principal had existed, almost skipping like a girl one third her apparent age, "Principal Hinako saying 'taa-taa?' What the heck is going on here?"

"Yeah," Neko replied, "That old Succubus was acting like she was a kid with a crush on a Pop idol. You really charmed the pants off of her, guy."

"It's nothing really," Touga replied, "One of the benefits of a noble education. You learn the language of the courts fairly early and it is like any field of battle...you seek out the target and you maneuver them with careful and precise movements, words and gestures. Believe me when I say that there is more to romance than mere flowery word play...you have to make a woman believe that she is the most important lady in all of creation."

"Hmph," Senzenen replied, "Too bad those charms of yours have no such effect on the Priestess of our world, my Lord. This one was almost too easily dissuaded."

"Perhaps," Touga smiled, "But there is something so charming about a lady who takes to flattery as if it were as rare as a desert bloom, and I wonder that no one here seems to have appreciated the charms of this lady, who is like and yet so unalike the regal priestess."

Tarot noted the way that Touga loyal retainer frowned at his lord and master, but rather than hostility what she sensed in the man was an altogether more surprising emotion. She lifted an eyebrow and started to put more of the pieces together.

"As you say, Great Lord," Xandar bowed, "I give thanks to our ancestors that you won over this lady, because the way she overcame our wards leaves me in little doubt that her power rivals that of the Priestess."

"Just so," Touga nodded, "Well then, if that distraction has been set aside for now, perhaps I will have more time to indulge in some reading. There are so many fascinating subjects here that it could take me years to accumulate as much knowledge as I thirst for..."

"Are you kidding?" Onnama asked, "You barely even glanced at those books...I mean, how can you learn anything by flipping the pages?"

"I remember everything that I read, gentle Sister," Touga replied, tapping his forehead, "One of the gifts inherited from our mutual mother is the ability to recall each picture and word with total clarity after only a glance, as you have described it."

"Fascinating," Koku smiled, "I'd heard the Saotomes could do stuff like that, but Onna-chan here just yawns at the mere mention of an education. It's too bad if you can't stick around for a while because a guy like you and me could go into business together and clean up this whole campus."

"A fascinating offer to be sure," Touga said with what sounded like complete candor, "I have long wondered what it would be like to live the life of a humble merchant..."

"Uh...guess you're gonna have to shelve that for later, big guy," Efreet suddenly spoke up.

"Huh?" Tachi turned to her, "What...do you mean...?"

"It's starting again," the Demon Goddess nodded, "I can feel the shift taking place...it's got the same energy signature as the last time."

"Guess we're gonna wind up somewhere else pretty soon," Ryoma exclaimed.

"Already?" Minos asked, "We just got here!"

"Apparently whatever task we came to accomplish has been completed," Wanda mused, "And the power that is conducting these affairs wishes to draw us elsewhere."

"Oh bugger," Carmine growled, "I just hope the next place isn't too weird...be a real pain if we get dropped right into the middle of another frigging desert."

"I think this time the transfer is different," Tarot remarked, "I can perceive a difference in the gathering of energies...there is more power being drawn this time to conduct us to our destination."

"Hey!" Onnama suddenly cried out, "I feel funny...like there's this tingling all over me..."

"Obviously you are coming along for the ride, little Sister," Touga noted.

"What do you mean?" asked Idou.

"I don't feel anything," said Kanazuchi.

"Guess that mean's we're not tagging along for this one," Koku remarked, "What a pity.

"Sucks," Neko pouted, "I could use an excuse like that to get out of Chem class..."

The cat-girl's words seemed to travel down to the rest of the party as if from a very long tunnel, and then a swirling void surrounded them as a dozen teenagers found themselves no longer in the library but rather in a grayish void that stretched out in all directions. The swirling winds that whipped past their bodies and hair blotted out all details of where and when they were, but after a moment they found themselves cast adrift in a starry nightscape, staring at a void that engulfed them in a total packaging of universal dimensions.

"What's wrong?" Carmine asked, "What is this?"

"It looks like the Cosmos as viewed from inside a crystal ball," replied Tachi.

"Good description," Efreet added, "Those really are stars, planets, constellations and two moons orbiting the planet Earth..."

"Two moons?" Tachi blinked.

"Yeah," the Demon Goddess pointed with her staff, "There's Luna over there, and there is another object with the mass of a planet roughly asteroid sized and shaped like a grinning skull..."

"Say WHAT?" Ryoma reacted.

"Hey, she's right," Minos pointed, "It does look like a grinning skull..."

"Eh?" Touga exclaimed as the rest of their party followed the outstretched finger of the larger boy, and sure enough they did see an object drifting in space that was ominously shaped like a human skull...one surrounded by an atmospheric envelope that gave it the appearance of something frozen in crystal.

"What the heck is that thing?" Onnama murmured in awed disbelief even as the object in question appeared to be growing in size and dimensions...right up until they collective realized that it was coming a lot closer and filling up their horizons.

All at once there came a wrenching sensations, like being sucked through a straw or the vortex of a cyclone. Like that they found themselves standing on the edge of a precipice overlooking a dark gulf that stretched out beneath them like the maw of a hungry beast, and with a star-strewn sky overhead that boasted an impossibly large moonscape.

"What the heck just happened?" Minos asked after a long drawn-out moment of complete silence amid the party.

"On the whole," Touga replied, "And mind you, this is only a theory...I would say that we are now upon that moon-like object that we were spying a moment ago...or at least that would appear to be consistent with the observable circumstances."

"I concur," Tarot replied, "Only I believe this time that we have reached our final destination."

"I don't like the way you put that," Carmine winced.

"Yeah," Efreet agreed, "Especially the part about it being 'final.'"

"Hookay," Onnama remarked, "Would this be a good time to mention that I got a thing against visiting extra-terrestrial bodies shaped like pirate totems?"

"You may register a complaint with the proper authorities," Senzenen noted, "But I somehow doubt such a move would be efficacious."

"I couldn't agree more," Tachi soberly noted, "This place does not bode well for tourism, and I doubt that they even have an embassy to complain to."

"Whatever the circumstances," Wanda rumbled, "We are here."

"Big Stuff right," Minx noted, "We here, no stop now."

"You got that right," Ryoma nodded in a particular direction, "Only that looks like the place where we're supposed to go. It's like we say in role playing games, when in doubt, find a castle."

They all turned to see the dark man-made structure standing atop a high peak, shaped like a cross between a dark Fantasy castle and a machine chisel. It was gloomy and foreboding, promising nothing wholesome for the unwary.

"That figures," Onnama grumbled, "All these castle thingies have to be dark and unwholesome...must be a contractual thing or something..."

"My Lord," Xandar inquired, "What shall we do now?"

"What can we do?' Touga shrugged, "When in Osaka, eat sushi."

"Okay, listen up people!" Ryoma turned around to address her fellow party members, "It should be obvious to anybody that we've been sent here to do a mission, and whatever it is, it probably involves that dark tower upon on a hill. Since we don't know the issues or motivations of the power that's backing us, we're gonna have to assume it's friendly and has very good reasons for putting us through these paces..."

"Why should we assume that?" Carmine argued, "It could just as easily be an evil force. After all, it grabbed us up out of our worlds without so much as a by-  
your-leave."

"True enough," Tachi admitted, "But nothing we've seen so far indicates such negative motivations. After all...none of us have been harmed so far in our journeys, and we've even managed to do some good along the way. The force behind this is obviously very powerful and has some hidden reason for positioning us the way it has, but it's also giving us a choice about what we do when we arrive at a certain time and location."

"Yes," Tarot nodded, "We are being maneuvered, but we also allowed free will, and that suggests to me that the agency behind this needs to move carefully through hidden proxies. As we are all obviously the good guys, it makes sense that our mysterious backer knows full well that we will play the part of heroes in whatever environment we are sent to, and that would also imply that our purpose for being here is to subvert whatever power resides in that dark and foreboding tower complex. Add to this that my own perceptions confirm that an evil force is in residence and I think it safe to conclude that Ryo-chan's observation is entirely vindicated."

"I must also reluctantly concur with your observations," Touga agreed, "One does not send powerful and talented pawns into danger and possibly even battle without having a guiding plan to use their properties in some constructive manner. If the force behind our transfer were hostile it could just as easily dispose of us by dropping us into an environment where we have no hope of survival, but given that we all seem to be quite capable and talented fighters..."

"My lord," Senzenen asked, "Are you asking that we combine forces to lay siege to an enemy of whom we know nothing about?"

"My brothers have both spoken wisdom," Wanda answered for the Samurai retainer, "I sense a power of immense evil in the very ground beneath our feet, one that fairly cries out to the heavens for widespread death and destruction that would make the ruins of my world seem as innocent as that untamed wilderness setting we so recently were sent to...quite obviously with the intention of allowing us to get to know and trust each other, perhaps even with the intention of allowing us to choose to work together as more effective allies."

"That makes sense to me," Minos nodded, "That long stay in his Lordship's realm felt more like R&amp;R than an actual field mission, like somebody was giving us time to get used to this business with world travel before sending us into the front lines. Count me in for whatever's ahead...at the very least I owe somebody a favor for meeting a really nice lady."

"Well, don't look at me if you expect me to stay out of this," Onnama shrugged, "In for a centimeter, in for a kilometer and all that..."

"It would seem then that we are united," Touga turned to Ryoma and said, "What then would you recommend for us, Sister?"

"Sure you wanna take my advice?" Ryoma replied, "After all, I'm just a commoner, Bro..."

"You are obviously much more than that," Touga replied, "And a part of being of the noble class means recognizing leadership and talent when it makes itself apparent. You have all the qualities it would take to make a good general of armies, and I would be a fool to discount the spirit of our mutual Mother that so clearly resides within you."

"Well spoken indeed, your Lordship," Tarot nodded, "But I think you would feel more at ease in your trust if Ryo-chan were restored to her natural status."

Thus spoken, the Amazon Witch made a gesture with one hand that caused a ball of moisture to congeal, then heated it to the appropriate temperature and splashed it on Ryoma, and while she was busy transforming into a he the Mage cast a secondary spell that altered the kimono that the Chef was wearing into a more appropriate and form-fitting gear resembling the traditional outfit normally worn by Ryoma's mother, Kuonji Ukyo.

"Yeah," Ryoma flexed his arms and stared down at himself before nodding, "That's a whole lot better. Thanks, Tarot-chan, I owe you one."

"Expect me to collect at the appropriate time and place," the blue haired girl smiled sweetly.

"Hmph," Carmine frowned, "So...what do we do now?"

"Obviously we have to find a way into that place," Tachi nodded to the dark and forbidding castle.

"Well, why don't we use that trail over there," Efreet pointed with her staff, "It looks mostly unguarded."

"Huh?" Minos and the others followed the Android's gesture and found that there was indeed a trail leading down from where they stood into the side of the mountain, a cave entrance clearly visible further down from their position.

"Excellent," Touga nodded, "Xandar, Yoriko."

"Lord!" both Ninja bowed, then with vaulting leaps descended the trail with a speed that defied description.

"They will scout the trail and inform us if there are any hidden dangers," Touga turned back to Ryoma and said, "If you will lead the way, Brother, I promise to faithfully serve your cause for the duration."

"Fine with me," Ryoma nodded, "Wanda and Minos, you guard the rear, Tachi and Onna-Sis, to hold the middle flanks, leave his Nibs and his buddy to the center. I'll take the lead, Tarot and Carmine-san, you stay with me, Efreet supplies air cover and Minx...well...do whatever you can to stay useful. Everybody stay ready and expect surprises, and remember to give each other plenty of elbow room, but don't forget to cover each others backsides. You see anything that moves, expect it to be hostile. Now everybody follow me."

With no further preamble the handsome pig-tailed boy moved forward, walking as casually as if descending a perfectly ordinary mountain trail, but those with eyes to see could tell that he moved with the cautious grace of a stalking hill panther, ready to strike in any direction. Touga took note of this and nodded in approval, then waved ahead and said, "After you, sweet ladies."

"Right," Carmine followed after the handsome boy, one eye taking in the serene expression Tarot was wearing as the two walked side-by-side just a few steps behind the boy who had so recently become their object of contention.

"My Lord?" Senzenen asked.

"We do as he has instructed," Touga explained, "In his world it is ability, not rank, which determines status, which is how it should be in my opinion. We will do our part in this play, old friend, and fight this battle together."

"I would never presume to question your wisdom," Senzenen bowed, "But though he is your half-brother, how do we know that we can trust our lives to such a person?"

"My dear Sens-chan," Touga murmured with a hint of real amusement, "Can you not see that he walks the path of a true warrior? The spirit of my mother is strong within him, and he moves with the ease of both a Samurai and a Ninja. I should not want such a one for my enemy, and were he a vassal in our lands I would be proud to acknowledge him for my brother."

"Then I will do as you command, my Lord," Senzenen replied, not bothering to add that he would stand between the mouth of Hell's gate and Touga should life itself be demanded on this quest.

"Nice to finally be doing something positive," Tachi mused, "I hope this quest justifies missing out on a day of classes."

"At least I don't have to take Home Ec this way," Onnama noted, "Kanazuchi'd probably try and feed me another of her poisoned hand grenades disguised as innocent-looking cookies."

"Your friend, my brother, appears to have leadership qualities indeed," Wanda murmured as she and Minos brought up the rear, "But how good would you rate him in an actual battle?"

"Promise not to tell anybody I said this?" Minos softly whispered, "I'd follow that guy to Hell itself...but like hell I'd admit it to his face. The thing about Ryoma that I can't stand most of the time is that he never loses, and what's worse...he knows it."

"But in this case you are willing to make an exception?" Wanda smiled in obvious amusement.

"Obviously," Minos replied with a sigh, "I just hope this ain't the one time he fails his lucky streak."

"Big Furry-Purry no have worry," chirruped the sprightly Minx as she walked on all fours on the SIDE of the rock face down which they were descending as though her clawed hands and feet were sticking to the rock like pitons, "Minx protect, you see."

Wanda eyed the rainbow-haired gremlin with a MOST dubious expression but said nothing for her own part, only silently avowing not to drop her guard again as long as the diminutive Ninja girl was ANYWHERE near to her presence.

"Okay gang," Ryoma spoke back in a low murmur that easily carried throughout the length of the party, "Stay sharp, we're about to enter those tunnels, and Efreet...try not to bump into the ceiling, will you?"

"Got it, Chief," the floating Demon Goddess replied, casting a glance back before adding, "If that's okay with you, Master?"

"Ah..." Tachi lopsidedly smiled, "Oh...it's just fine...I've got complete confidence in Ryo-chan when he's in his element, so you do what he tells you."

"Roger that," Efreet replied and continued hovering just over the heads of Carmine and the others, her key-staff held at the ready.

"And you two," Ryoma cast his voice over his shoulder so that it only reached the ears of the two girls directly behind him, "We're coming through this together, so try and keep the peace for now, huh? We run into any trouble you two fall back and cover yourselves, let me have room enough to do my thing, you got that Tarot-chan?"

"What do you expect me to do, Ryo-chan?" Tarot replied, "Leave myself undefended while worrying about you? I'm more than confident in your ability to take care of yourself."

"It ain't me you guys need to worry about," Ryoma replied, "I can handle most anything they throw at me...it's you who could get hurt if you're not careful."

"My Lord," Xandar appeared at the mouth of the cavern, "The way is clear for the first hundred paces, yet we have sensed the presence of enemies in the next large cavern, and there are sounds of battle further ahead in the distance."

"Understood," Touga nodded, "But you should make your report to my brother for the duration. I am appointing him temporary commander in charge of this expedition."

"My Lord?" Xandar looked surprised.

"That's right, guy," Ryoma responded, "You got any problem with taking orders from me?"

"Ah...no, my Lord," the Ninja bowed, "It will be as you command."

"Good," Ryoma nodded, "Then get back to your sister and don't let her out of your sight. Something about this place makes my skin crawl, and the last thing we need to do is leave our back unguarded, you got me?"

"Hai," the Ninja acknowledged, bowing before returning to the cave mouth and vanishing down the passage.

"Okay," Ryoma said, "From here on nobody does any talking unless it's super-  
important. We go in quiet and keep a low profile, but if we have to make noise, we do it loud and hard, everybody understand me?"  
"We're with you, Ryo," Tachi called from his position, "Soft penetration with a hard thrust, your specialty if I'm not too mistaken."

"Like you'd know from experience?" Ryoma sniffed before moving forward, even as Efreet smiled and added, "Sounds kinky."

Carmine frowned at the boy's back and Tarot took immediate notice, "Is something wrong, Carmine-san?"

"Who the heck does that guy think he is?" Carmine murmured, "Alexander the great?"

"Oh no," Tarot smiled, "Ryo-chan would never humble himself to that extent. He is cocky, arrogant, brash, a bit conceited, believes he is the Kami's gift to both sexes and knows that he is the best of the best when it comes to hand-to-  
hand conflict."

"You mean he's got an ego the size of this hill in that rock he has for a head?" Carmine growled softly.

"Exactly," Tarot replied, "Which means he is just too perfect, ne?"

"Yeah," Carmine sighed, then together they trudged after the handsome sex-  
swapping boy-Chef as though she and Tarot were drawn to him by the proverbial magnet.

Efreet, who had been watching all of this from slightly above and behind these two recent combatants, wondered if her sensors were defective...or did it really sound as if those two were behaving more like old friends than bitter rivals. She shook her head slowly and murmured softly to herself, "Humans are so weird sometimes..." then like the rest of the party followed Ryoma's lead into the dark and unfriendly tunnels, keeping a tight grip on her key-staff and silently reminding herself that Demon Gods were not afraid of ghosts...and quite the opposite in fact she would add with a very slight and entirely human shiver...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Tunnels of Lost Love Spelunking: shadowmane

Things start to come together at long last in the next exciting chapter as Ranko forms her own posse while Ranma and Nabiki strive to make someone else's day a lot less pleasant, and what about the rest of our time-tossed heroes? Who is this mysterious Derek person and why is he doing all of this in the first place? For these and other questions, stay tuned for our next exciting chapter, "The Taming of the Crew," or "The Many Whines of Windsor!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works.  



	21. Chapter 21

RanCubed20

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and Others,  
including my fellow fanfic writers, Nicole Manders, Gregg Sharp and DB Sommers, who provided some of the characters and concepts that have appeared in this series, and to TH Tiger for his generous support and advice in the writing of this and many other projects)

Chapter Twenty.

Who's on First?

Time Patrol HQ,  
Nexus of Worlds

Supervisor Windsor had known better "days" in his time with the Office of Special Temporal Investigations, but at the moment he could not off-hand think of where and when as he studied what looked to be a disaster in the making. His prime agents were trapped on a literal time bomb that was heavily shielded and all but impenetrable to the Agency's normal methods of insertion and communication. There was almost no way to reach them now, let alone to find out what the hell was going on down there, which meant that his people were pretty much on their own while he and the rest of his staff were utterly helpless. On the whole it was not a good feeling for any supervisor to have to experience, let alone one who was charged with nothing less than the well being of a good chunk of the cosmos!

"I really need a good antacid," he grumbled, turning to Ryonami for the fifteenth time in the past several minutes, "Anything yet?"

Ryonami was about ready to hurl something at the man for repeating the same question, but instead she said, "Not yet, Sir, I'm still working on it, and please stop asking so I can concentrate already? Trust the Boss to know what she's doing, which is a heck of a lot better than any of us could do in her place, no offense to you, Ryoga-san."

"Granted," Ryoga nodded, "But I'd still feel a whole lot better if I was there with Nabiki and Ranma."

"But that's just it!" Windsor complained, "Nabiki's with Saotome, and granted she can handle her man better than anybody else you could name, the fact remains...it's still Ranma we're talking about being on top of the biggest godsdammed explosive device that's ever been created!"

That did give even the loyalists in the control room pause to consider the implications, and when Ryoga made a weak attempt, in loyalty to his partner, to say, "Well...maybe he can do this without destroying things," it had an almost plaintive sound to his own hearing.

"Puh-lease," Windsor said disparagingly, "When was the last time that Saotome left any place standing after he's paid a visit?"

"Well," Ryoga started to say, "We didn't destroy anything major when we were visiting the house of the Miroku..."

"But it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he and Nabiki shook the rafters and made an six-pointer on the Richter scale," Akari said with a pleasant grin, "And we should know, we were sharing the room next to them with...ah...well...our counterparts, if you really have to know..."

"I didn't," Windsor reacted, "But just the same I would feel a lot better if you were there to help reign him in, Hibiki. Too bad we can't find a wedge to slip you in..."

"Hold the fort on that, Sir!" Ryonami suddenly reported, red-flagging one of the monitor displays and magnifying the image to give a more powerful resolution, "We've got an opening forming...a convergence of some kind, like a great force is being exerted to this one location on the shielding around the asteroid and it's weakening this spot to where it can be used as a possible port of insertion. The area is small and fragmentary, lasting only a mere fraction of a second, but that's time enough for us to make a one-way transfer point if we use precise focus in this temporal location."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ryoga demanded, "I'm ready to go, get me into that insertion!"

"I'm trying to narrow down the projection point to do just that, Ryoga-kun," Ryonami replied, "But this is a razor-thin job, and our equipment isn't precise enough to fit you through that point. It's the proverbial camel through the eye of a needle, I'm going to need more time to set this up, and normally time wouldn't be a problem but...well...you know..."

"Oh yeah," Windsor rolled his eyes, "Take all the time you want, it's not like the world's coming to an end. Oh-wait! It is, isn't it? Just great..."

Ryonami was about to say something that would have earned her a reprimand, but at that precise moment a peculiar thrumming noise filled the room with a high-  
pitched whine that seemed to be coming from all places at once. The dispatchers and operator technicians reacted with puzzled expressions, as if suspecting their equipment was suffering a heretofore-unknown form of breakdown.

Ryoga perked up the moment that he heard this noise and said, "Hey...I know that sound! I'd remember it anywhere..."

"Me too," Windsor grimaced, "Only how it can even be possible to hear it in this complex I don't think I can even begin to speculate."

"Sir," Ryonami blinked as she studied her monitors, "We have an insertion point...right here inside this very complex..."

"No fooling," Akari remarked as she stared at an object that was materializing in the middle floor of the complex, "Even I could have told you that."

Windsor stared at said object, which to ordinary eyes appeared as nothing more than a British-style Police Call Box, somehow not as surprised as he should have been that the Galifrey High Council would send their most notorious of all agents into the middle of Time Patrol HQ, but just the same dismayed that a self-proclaimed Time Lord would be dropping in on his turf in the middle of a major crisis. Still he waited until the doors to the box opened up to reveal a familiar figure in a long frock coat boasting a ridiculously long scarf before giving vent to his displeasure at the all-too-coincidental arrival.

"I thought I made it clear to you people that we're handling things on our end and we don't need any interference from an outsider, Doctor."

"Eh?" the man with mane of curly hair showing out from beneath a wide-brimmed floppy hat remarked, "Pardon me, did I come at a bad time? I was alerted that you people were having a bit of a problem. Ah, Ryoga, my dear boy! You're looking quite well. A bit older and a tad more domesticated...and of course your lovely wife is looking as charming as ever."

"Doctor," Akari grinned, "It feels like it's been ages."

"I'll say!" Ryoga could not help the wide grin that was pasted across his handsome features, "What have you been doing with yourself, Doctor? Still out saving the cosmos?"

"Oh, you know how it is," the Doctor shrugged with a boyish grin of his own, "A bit of this and that, rambling around wherever the TARDIS takes me. Not at all like the regular hours you chaps put in with your primitive equipment..."

"Primitive?" Ryonami bristled, "Look here, Doctor, I know you guys think you invented Time Travel, but I'll have you know..."

"Indeed," a feminine voice from just behind her remarked as Ryonami turned with a start to find a tall girl with long dark brown hair standing behind her wearing an outfit very similar to the Doctor's, "Your equipment is quite sophisticated...for borrowed technology, that is. Founder Technology, that is...Class Twelve Temporal Transfer Projection...highly reliable for the purposes to which you employ it, but nothing at all compared to the luxury of the TARDIS...that is, when it's in proper working order."

"Ah," the Doctor waved a hand at the girl, "You do remember Helexia, my present companion and a child progeny of considerable talent and ability, given that her mother was of a more primitive mindset from what I recall during our travels together..."

"Helexia," Ryoga nodded, "Of course I remember. How is it going with you, Helex-chan?"

"Well enough, Uncle Ryoga," the dark haired girl turned to the Doctor and said, "Father...I believe that they have discovered the transportal Nexus point that we were attempting to locate. With these coordinates we should have little difficulty in aiming the TARDIS through the shielding surrounding the anomaly."

"Smashing," the Doctor said with grand humor, turning to Windsor and adding, "Didn't I tell you she was a talented sort? Gets it from my side of the family and all that. Well, we won't be troubling you any more than we have. Go back to whatever it was that you were doing and pretend that we were never here. Good to see you again, old sport, but time is awaiting and we do seem to have something of a sticky wicket brewing over in that infernal device that some poor fool dropped into our collective laps. Come along, Helexia."

"Yes Father," Helexia replied, turning back to Ryonami and adding, "Fine work with the controls there. I can see you have a real knack for this sort of thing. I wouldn't mind comparing notes sometime. Well, tally ho and all that."

Ryonami just kept staring at the strangely dressed girl with a totally blank expression, hardly batting an eyelash as Helexia began striding towards the call box, long frock coat and scarf trailing behind her like a cape. No one else made a move to deter their leaving, but one did have the presence of mind to nudge her husband and give him a meaningful glare to stir his slow-witted reactions into full operation.

"Doctor!" Ryoga called out as he turned to the call box, "Hold up a moment! Do you think you can take me along on this...just for old time's sake?"

"My dear boy," the Doctor gave him a knowing smirk, "I was wondering when you were going to ask. Come along, Ryoga-san, once more into the breech and all that."

Ryoga smiled like a man only half his real age and hastened into the Call Box, and a few moments later the whining noise was heard once again while the box itself faded out from view, vanishing as if it had indeed been nothing more than a phantom. It was several moments after it was gone that anyone was able to break the resulting silence.

"Tell me we didn't just form an alliance with the Galifreyans...did we?" Ryonami asked.

"Looks that way from my end," Windsor replied matter-of-factly.

"And I noticed you didn't say anything about it when you could have," Ryonami eyed her nominal supervisor with a sidelong glance.

"Didn't seem much point," Windsor replied, "You ever meet anyone who won out in an argument with that guy?"

"Well...the Boss...maybe," Ryonami replied, "But that depends on who you ask..."

And without further adieu they both turned to regard the holographic display of the sinister looking asteroid, knowing full well that their fates-as well as all others in creation-hung on the balance of those who had so recently paid them a visit, even as the other technicians and people present in the complex turned to their own affairs, working tirelessly to marshal their resources towards the worthwhile goal of Multiversal salvation...

Continuum # 87219654

Dark Citadel,  
(Pocket Limbo-Like Dimension)

Roll Call:

Team Alpha-Zero,  
Wing Gundam Training Unit

Akira Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Yuki (17) Pilot: Firebird Urika Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Konatsu (17) Pilot: Iron Chef Saber Kuno -Daughter of Shampoo and Kodachi (16) Pilot: Steel Serpent Trolla Galt -Zentraedi Clone-sister to Merriam (12) Pilot: Steelshark Dana Stirling -Daughter of Max and Meriya (10) Pilot: Sunstone

"How many of these things are there?" Urika wondered as she spun her giant spatula around like the blades of a helicopter, swatting the manta-like creatures out of the air even as they attempted to swarm all over her Gundam.

"Who knows?" Saber replied as she unloaded another volley of heavy ordinance on a cluster of the menacing black creatures, "They just keep on coming and we keep shooting them down...it's like they're an endless stream or something!"

"Something tells me it would be a very bad thing if they manage to get through our defenses," Trolla relayed as she sent a volley of mini-rockets into another clustering swarm and dispersed them with many black forms plummeting towards the planetoid around which they circled, "These suckers look nasty!"

"Sucker is right," Dana pointed out, "I've finished a tentative bioanalysis and my instruments definitely confirm that these things have energy draining capability. If they latch onto us, they may be able to leech out energy from our Gundams."

"Swell," Akira remarked, "Then I guess we'd better not lower our guard. Problem is we don't have an unlimited power supply for our weapons, and my charge is already more than half drained. I think this is about time where we talk strategy and try to think our way out of this cluster-suck!"

"Be fine if we knew what we were dealing with or why we're here in the first place," Urika pointed out, "It's like we were dropped right into the middle of some kind of crisis and we don't even have a clue about the why, where, when, how, who and how often!"

"So?" Trolla asked, "You ever hear of improvising? We can pretty much bet that whoever is sending these things at us is most probably the bad guy."

"Flawlessly reasoned," Saber noted, "But it still doesn't tell us a damned thing about what we're really up against."

"Hey," Dana spoke up, "I just noticed something...these things absorb energy, but they seem to be avoiding the muzzle flashes of our weapons."

"So?" Trolla prodded.

"I think they may be afraid of strong light," Dana pointed out, "They look enough like bats that they might even be used to living in caves or dark places, which means..."

"I get you," Akira spoke up, "It's worth a try, might even get them off our backs for a little bit. You guys give me some cover, I'm powering up Firebird now for a solar flare, and you do the same thing with Sunstone."

"Roger that," Dana replied, "On your mark, Unit-leader."

"The rest of you form cover," Akira called out to her unit, "On my mark...NOW!"

All at once the two Gundam Veritechs known as Firebird and Sunstone leveled their shields and began glowing on their exterior hull a brilliant light, and all at once flared up like a pair of twin Magnesium flares while the other members of their unit fell back and formed a protective triangle in support of the two units. The flash was so intense that even visual shielding could barely filter it out, but the pilots did as well as they were able to withstand the brief illumination, and when the light faded back to normal they could make out their sensors adequately enough to make out the readings on their visual display consoles.

"Well...did it work?" Akira asked, scanning the horizons for signs of the menacing black shapes."

"Yeah, I say it worked, Chief," Saber reluctantly replied, "All creatures within a thousand yard radius were either incinerated by the blast or appear to have been crisp-fried and are now dropping like scorched flies in the aftermath of a plasma burst."

Akira paused slightly before saying, "Why do I hear a 'BUT' in that statement?"

"Take a look for yourself," Urika called out, "You got rid of the buggers who were near to us, but I see a second wave forming, and it doesn't look at all deterred by what happened to their comrades."

Akira did focus on her scanners and saw the black cloud that was rising up from some pit located on the far side of the planetoid, an even larger number of manta-like shapes than the one they had just dispatched, which prompted her to make the pithy observation, "Oh shit!"

"That's not fair!" Trolla complained, "Are there no end to these infernal monstrosities?"

"Maybe not," Dana reported, "But that blast drained our power levels by half and I don't think we can make another one until we rebuild our reserves to at least 85% of optimal levels. At current rate of regeneration..."

"About ten minutes," Saber rapidly estimated.

"I was going to say nine-point-six if you had only waited," Dana sounded more than slightly miffed at the interruption.

"Swell," Akira groaned, "Then we're right back where we started from..."

"Not quite," Urika corrected, "I estimate that we've shot off about seventy-two percent of our ordinance...Trolla and I are almost empty. We're down to beam weapons with only a few reserve mini-rockets and incendiary mines..."

"Terrific," Akira growled, "If you two brainless ninnies hadn't been so intent on having a Hen-fight..."

"We wouldn't be as well armed and armored as we are, Akira-chan," Trolla reported back sweetly, "And we wouldn't have bothered to arm your Gundam either."

"Y'know," Saber grumbled, "That fact that she actually made sense with that is kind of scary..."

"Tell me about it," Dana concurred, then added, "Brace for impact! They're incoming from at least three directions!"

"Everyone form a Star pattern and cover each others backs!" Akira snapped out automatically, "No slacking in defense, just keep them as far away as we can for as long as we can!"

"And then what?" Urika asked.

"I...I don't know yet," Akira bit her lower lip and added, "I'll think of something..."

"For what it's worth, Lieutenant Saotome," Trolla relayed, "It will be an honor to stand at your side no matter what happens, and if we are fated to fall together, I can think of no worthier battle companion."

"Ah...thanks," Akira winced, "But we're not dead yet, let's concentrate on staying alive, shall we people?"

"Right," said Urika.

"Copy that," reported Saber.

"I'm with you guys all the way," agreed Dana, and together they braced themselves for the coming onslaught, though hopelessly outnumbered determined to meet their end as the Unit known as Team Gundam WV...

Roll Call:

Ryeka Masaki -Fusion Daughter of Ayeka and Ryoko, created by Washu by DNA recombination; Juraian-Daemon (17)  
Ayane Tofu -Daughter of Kasumi and Korato, a Saiyajin-human hybrid,  
Adopted daughter of Ono Tofu (17)  
Ryo-Aki -Daughter of Ryo-Oki and Ken-Oki, a Cabbit linked to Ryeka

"You've gotta hand it to these guys," Ayane mused as she continued dishing out punishment left-and-right to their shadowy and stone-like assailants, "They sure are gluttons for punishment..."

"Yeah, no fooling," Ryeka agreed as her energy sword sliced yet another granite-  
like shadow warrior into stony rubble, "And they keep on coming no matter how many of the suckers we total."

"Well, I wanted a good workout," Ayane smiled as she cleared a swath of wanton destruction with a mere pass of her arm, "And this is mildly diverting, but if you're starting to get tired..."

"Phaw, fat chance!" Ryeka snorted, "I'm just starting to get warmed up here, what are you talking about? Don't tell me these losers are starting to wind you?"

"No, I feel great," Ayane replied as she destroyed four more attackers with a single punch, "These guys might be tough, but they're real easy to break and they've got hardly any strategy to their assault. It's like they expect to overwhelm us by sheer weight of numbers or something."

"Oh yeah, like that's gonna happen any time in this decade," Ryeka paused to fire off an energy blast from one hand that pulverized a full dozen of the stony black shapes, "Y'know, it's almost like they're made of some kind of solidified shadow and they're reforming themselves as fast as we can smash them. Individually they're pretty wimpy, but taken as a whole..."

"Yeah," Ayane mused as she cupped her hands together and formed an energy ball between her fingers, "It's like they're trying to delay us more than defeat us...I'm gonna try something to see if we can test out that theory. YAMI-KAMI-  
SENKO!"

Her hands shot forward and a sphere of force shot down one passage way and utterly decimated the ranks of the shadowy creatures that had been gathering in that hallway. The result was a clear space in the middle of the corridor that stretched as far as the eye could see, and without further preamble Ayane leaped into the air and started flying in that direction, calling out, "Follow me!"

"I get you," Ryeka smiled and at once took off in pursuit of the dark haired Saiyajin, easily catching up with her as the two of them rocketed down the passage, "You think they're trying to keep us from going down this way, huh?"

"It make sense," Ayane related, "This way was more heavily defended than the other way, so I wonder what we're going to find when we get to the end of this corridor?"

"I don't know," Ryeka mused, "But whoever we meet is gonna learn the hard way not to mess with a Juraian-ACCKKK!"

This latter remark was exclaimed at high pitch as Ryeka felt a vice-like grip form around one ankle, and all at once she was thrown into a wall by her own momentum as the hand gripping her easily turned her about in a 270 degree spin angle!

"Huh?" Akane slowed herself down when she sensed her companion's troubles, seeing a dark black shape hulking over the stunned Ryeka, who was dangling upside down by one leg like the proverbial broken doll, which naturally almost distracted the Saiyajin to the point where she did not immediately sense a more immediate attack homing in on her direction.

"Yikes!" Ayane exclaimed as an energy sword sliced off several stray hairs from where her forehead had been an instant beforehand, "Hey watch it! What are you trying to do, shave me bald?"

"The possibility had crossed my mind, indeed," said the man standing on the other end of that glowing energy-beam sword, which Ayane could tell he was wielding like an expert, "HAVE AT THEE!"

Ryeka felt herself being slammed into the floor again as the giant hulking figure sought to beat her like a drumstick, but her combat reflexes kicked in and she immediately phased through the rock and out of the hand that gripped her, flowing out again like a ghost some meters distant.

"Nice try!" she glared with a humorless smile on her lips, "But you'll have to do better than that if..."

Her taunt died unfinished in her throat as she stared in disbelief at the creature confronting her, which too all intents looked like a giant two-legged Minotaur with batwings and tentacles streaming from his back snarling at her with a sound that was utterly inhuman, an effect further enhanced by the glowing red eyes that the creature was turning in her direction.

"Mommy..." Ryeka faintly whispered, then rallied herself and snarled, "Well, it doesn't matter to me if you're some kind of Demon or not! Take this!"

She shot a ball of energy at the creature, only to see it casually bat the thing to one side so that it careened off one wall and exploded harmlessly off in the distance.

"Oh," Ryeka said faintly, "You're one of those types, are you? Well, try this!"

Her energy blade was in her hand as she took a "Great-Grandfather-approved" slice at the creature's middle section, but it flowed out of the way quite easily and started rushing forward. Ryeka saw an opening and stabbed forward in a lunge that should have pierced the creature to the marrow, but instead the creature gripped her blade as though it were solid and turned it to one side, causing her to stumble forward into arms-reach where a solid backhand sent her flying down the passage.

Ayane was having her own hard time staying out of reach of her opponent's weapon, the energy sword nearly slicing her as it passed by her face, arms, head, legs and body in a number of very impressive combinations. Try as she might she could not get in past his defenses and was being driven steadily on the defensive, giving ground steadily under his relentless assault, his form nearly flawless and his reflexes utterly uncanny.

"Hey, look, can't we just talk about this?" Ayane asked in desperation, "We don't have to be enemies...!"

"Wrong," the tall boy before her responded with chilling calm and an unwavering disposition, "Master Karadon says you must die, servant of the Light Side. Your fate as sealed the moment that you drew steel with Darth Thunder."

"Steel, what steel?" Ayane demanded, "What are you talking about, and who's Karadon?"

"The only one whom I may call my Master," her opponent replied, leveling his blade at the ready for another attack.

"Hey!" Ayane blinked, "You look just like my Uncle Kuno! Where the hell did you get a sword like that-YIKES! Hey, are you trying to kill me or something?!"

"The thought does have its merits," Darth Thunder replied before raising his sword again and thrusting it forward, "HAVE AT YOU!"

"HEY!" Ayane protested as she dodged out of the way, "QUIT THAT!"

Her enemy ignore her petition and kept on coming at her, forcing Ayane to summon up her energies and prepare to do battle in earnest, sensing that this foe would not be deterred by words or reason. As she flowed away from his attacks she sensed the forces that were building around him, drawn from the very air itself and fortifying his speed, strength and fury to truly superhuman levels, and every move she attempted to use to get around his defenses seemed to be anticipated in advance, and with that blade blazing as hot as any fusion blast it was all that she could do to keep herself from being bisected...

Roll Call:

Ranma Saotome -Time Cop, Avatar of Shiva, Master of the Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Nabiki Saotome -Time Cop, Ranma's wife and partner, Lore Master Freya Kuno -Goddess of Love and Battles, wife of Tatewaki Kuno Lyn Reikou Kuno -Daughter of Freya and Kuno, Valkyrie in training Muku Dori Senzenen -Daughter of Akane and Mikado, Iczellion Warrior, partner to Rhea Rhea Kano -Iczer Four, daughter of Nagisa and Iczer-One

"Hey, slow down a minute, Ranma-kun," Freya urged, "What's the damned hurry? We'll get to where we're going soon enough!"

"Don't," Nabiki recommended as she hung back a few paces behind her glowering husband, "Ranma won't appreciate you talking him down from his mood, he's build a mad-on and the best thing you can do is keep out of his way."

"I ain't angry," Ranma said in tones that would have sent a chill down the spine of a wolverine, "At least not yet. I know my kid was snatched out of here and I've got a pretty good idea of who and why, so I'm keeping my focus on the guys who really need to be whacked, Nabiki. This ain't personal for me...at least not yet, even if Karadon is targeting my kids on account of me. When it does get personal...well...it ain't gonna be pretty."

Lyn Reikou studied the profile of the man who was so very much like her much-  
loved "Uncle Saotome" and felt a chill running down her spine, though for what reason she could not say, though her Valkyrie senses did inform her that someone was going to die in the very near future, and she wouldn't place any bets on that party's name being Saotome.

"I don't perceive immanent danger immediately ahead of us, Sir," Rhea reported, "I do sense several humanoid life forms and some indistinguishable types, but I don't think the humanoid ones have hostile intentions. I can't say about the other one, but I do sense a kind of malevolence almost indistinguishable with hunger..."

"Hungry? Muku Dori asked, "Are you sure that's the feeling your sensors are picking up, Honey?"

"Positive," Rhea replied, "There is intelligence submerged beneath the hunger, but that is definitely the emotion that I can interpret mostly strongly from this distance. There is also a sense of great power to equal the appetite, but it is almost an animalistic sensation, like the raw elements of an inhuman nature."

"Sounds like some of the guys I've dated in the old days," Freya mused, "Of course there is one creature that I know of what could also fit that description, and that would most probably be..."

A loud roar echoed down the corridor, shaking the chamber with a force that seemed a thousand times worse than the loudest of foghorns. A distinctive smell like sulfur was strongly hinted at in the air and the lingering sound was like a massive drain being unclogged, giving a hint to something huge and massive that made the ground itself shake with its slightest movement.

"Let me guess," Nabiki said, "A dragon?"

"Oh yeah," Freya nodded, "A dragon, only that one sounds like Fafnir's big brother going for a walk..."

"If she's talking about one of her past dates, I'm leaving," Ranma half grumbled to himself.

"Look!" Muku Dori pointed down the corridor, "Something's coming this way...fast!"

"That group of humanoid life forms I mentioned," Rhea said calmly, "I believe that the other life form is chasing them in our direction."

"If they're running from a dragon, then they're probably very sensible people," Lyn noted, "Or maybe more sensible than some of the guys I hang around with."

"Don't look now," Ranma cautioned, "But it looks like they're practically on top of us."

"No ifs about it," Nabiki replied, "And some of them are going to seem like familiar faces."

Sure enough a larger party came running around the bend, led by Ganymede, who was carrying Shanma in his arms, followed in close order by Mace, the winged Kinko, the two cyborgs who had accompanied them and a somewhat frantic-looking Sayo, followed in close order by an equally distressed Hiroshi, the missing members of their party.

"Oh yeah," Freya agreed, "Those are definitely our missing kittens."

"POP!" Shanma called out, recognizing him in the few instants before their two groups would have collided. Fortunately for all concerned, Ganymede was able to throw on the brakes and encourage those following after him to come to a dead halt rather than smash into his backside.

"Dad!" Mace called out at the same time that Kinko cried out, "Uncle Saotome!"

"Father!" both Sayo and the Cyborgs said together while Hiroshi just kept staring back the way they had come around the corner.

"Hey kids," Ranma said, "Good to see you're all well, but where's the fire?"

"That way, Sir!" Hiroshi gestured, "It's coming right at us!"

A blast of warm air highly tainted with sulfur filled the corridor, and automatically everyone darted behind Ranma, who remained unmoving and barely even flinched as his hair blew by from the wind storm.

"I think that can be taken for a given," Nabiki noted.

"So I see," Ranma replied with a smile, "Leave it to me, I got a feeling I know who and what's coming..."

Just instants after he said this a large reptilian face rounded the bends, elbowing past the narrow confines of the corridor as he moved rapidly on both scaly legs and prehensile wing-claws that allowed itself to pull its way along in what-for a thing of its considerable size-must have seemed like the cramped spaces of the corridor passage. It was going so fast that it almost did not register the small insect that barred its way, but then it came to an abrupt halt as it sniffed a familiar sight, then oriented its massive head to allow its almost-human eyes to focus in his direction.

"EEP!" exclaimed Lyn Reiko, Muku Dori and even Rhea as they saw the corridor all but filled with the snarling snout of a massive Chinese dragon.

"Hey, what d'ya know?" Ranma smirked, betraying no fear whatsoever, "I was right for once! It is you, Herb! Long time no see...hey, is that a mustache you're growing?"

**SAO-TOME?** came a rumbling telepathic reply that filled their minds like the breath of doom overarching.

"So you do remember me," Ranma smirked, "Been quite a while for you, hasn't it? You've been in that shape so long that you've probably forgotten you were ever even human...well...sort of human..."

"Is he nuts?" Lyn Reikou asked.

"That thing is a monster!" Hiroshi exclaimed, a sentiment shared by many of the others cowering beside him.

"The classification is certainly accurate," said the Cyborg named Adam.

"Has Pop gone crazy?" Shanma asked.

"No," Ganymede replied, "He looks too calm, like he's unafraid of the monster..."

"But that's insane!" Mace expressed, "There's no way Dad can stand up to that thing!"

"Don't be too sure about that," Kinko cautioned with a hint of irony, "It's not exactly like this is his first time facing a dragon..."

"Father..." Sayo expressed with a much-concerned expression.

**SAOTOME...** the Dragon telepathed again, **YOU ARE STILL AS INSOLENT AND INSUFFERABLE AS I REMEMBER...**

"Yeah, that and a hundred yen-piece will buy me a weak brand of sake," Ranma sniffed, "I hear you're working for that low-life, Korato, these days...mighty hard times you've fallen on. I take it this shape is your answer to curing your Jusenkyo curse?"

**MAGNIFICENT, ISN'T IT?** the Dragon said smugly, **MY NEW FORM REFLECTS MY TRUE ANCESTRY AND IS FITTING FOR A MUSK PRINCE. YOU, HOWEVER, STILL HAVE THE TAINT OF YOUR CURSE, THOUGH I DO SENSE THAT YOU HAVE RAISED YOUR POWER LEVELS SOMEWHAT..."

"What can I say?" Ranma shrugged, "We change with the times. So...how'd you get stuck doing security work for a renegade guardian, or are you even aware that you've been reduced to a hireling?"

**I? REDUCED?** the Dragon thundered, **I AM HERB OF THE MUSK! NO MERE MORTAL CAN REDUCE ME TO SOME COMMON PEASANT...!"

"Yeah, right," Ranma snorted dismissively, "And I suppose you just take orders because you think you like it? Oh yeah, by the way, Korato's not a moral, and as a Guardian he's a lot more powerful than you and me put together."

**I AM NOT BEINGS UNDERLING!** the Dragon ominously growled, **I DO NOT KNOW THIS KORATO OF WHOM YOU SPEAK! I AWOKE TO FIND MYSELF IN THIS PLACE, AND WITH A GNAWING HUNGER THAT MUST BE SATISFIED...**

"Oh, slept through lunch, eh?" Ranma said, "I've been known to do that myself on occasion..."

Behind him he heard Nabiki stifle a laugh, but Ranma gave no hint of having heard his wife's suppressed sarcasm as he smiled confidently, continuing to look the Dragon straight in the muzzle without the least hint of concern in his own expression.

**I WARN YOU, SAOTOME,** the Dragon growled, **YOU ARE RAPIDLY LOSING YOUR QUALITY OF AMUSEMENT, WHICH IS THE ONLY THING THAT IS SPARING YOU FROM MY RIGHTEOUS WRATH.**

"Sure, sure," Ranma patted the dragon on the muzzle, "You better take it easy and go back to napping. You're starting to sound like Kuno, and that ain't a good thing in my opinion."

"Oh, I don't know about that, Sugar," Freya leered, "That Darth Kuno guy was awfully sexy...for a totally evil version of my Tachi."

"Mom!" Lyn Reikou cried, thoroughly scandalized by that comment.

**THAT IS IT!** the Dragon was shaking with rage, **TIME HAS ONLY MAGNIFIED YOUR ARROGANCE TO TRULY MONUMENTAL PROPORTIONS! I WILL DISPOSE OF YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL AND FINALLY BE RID OF YOUR INSUFFERABLE EGO!**

"Well, you know what they say," Ranma said benevolently, "It takes one to know one."

**DIE, SAOTOME!** the Dragon roared, opening its jaws wide in an attempt to bite down on the insolent humanoid insect before him, but when he attempted to do so those jaws found themselves caught and interrupted by a pair of iron-  
strong hands that prevented their closing.

"Man, this bites," Ranma smirked, "Your teeth are all yellow, don't you even brush between meals? And your breath! Yeesh! Would it kill you to use some breath mints?"

The dragon struggled in its attempt to crush the human, but Ranma's arms would not budge by a centimeter as he resisted the creatures best efforts to destroy him.

"Pop?" Shanma blinked her eyes.

"Wow," Muku exclaimed, "Now that's strong!"

"Not just strength," Rhea related, "I'm picking up massive bio-energy levels building up within your Uncle...He's erecting a force-shield to protect us since the Dragon is about to use its breath weapon..."

All at once the air around Ranma erupted in a huge ball of flame that shot out from the Dragon's gaping maw, but the flames fell short of reaching the party. When the flames died away Ranma was unaffected, though the Dragon's own maw was looking a little singed around the scales.

"Man, Halitosis!" Ranma winced, "Why don't we take this outside where it won't bother the ladies?"

And with that Ranma heaved and shoved the dragon backward, forcing it to back-  
step through the very tunnel that it crowded, driving it relentlessly down the corridor until they were well out of sight of the astonished members of the party.

"Ah..." Mace hesitantly broke the silence that immediately followed, "Mom...who was that?"

"It...looked a little like Pop," Shanma remarked, "But since when can Pop move lizards the size of mountains?"

"Reptile," Rhea automatically corrected, "Lizards tend to be cold blooded and that creature was decidedly warm blooded..."

"Never mind, Dear," Muku patted her on the wrist, "Let's just be glad that Uncle Saotome took care of the mean, old monster..."

"Yeah...but...how did he do it?" Hiroshi asked, "That just...it wasn't human..."

"And your point is?" Nabiki replied, "Come along, Children, I think we can find our way out of here. Let Ranma play with his old friend and then he'll be along to join us when they're finished."

"But...will father be all right?" Sayo asked hesitantly.

"You think somebody who plays with Dragons like they were pets is going to scrape his knee or something?" Freya asked, "Cute guy, I can see why you're so hung up on him, Nabiki-chan."

"Just remember he's mine, okay?" Nabiki sniffed, "It took me twenty years to drag him out from under the shadow of my sister, I don't need the added competition."

"Suit yourself, for now," Freya smirked, "But I was thinking more along the lines of us having a little threesome when this was over..."

"MOM!" Lyn reacted.

"Well hey," the goddess shrugged, "I'd invite your father along if he were here, dear..."

"Let's...postpone this for another time, okay?" Nabiki said, albeit a bit nervously, "As I was saying, this way...I can sense a widening in the corridor in that direction."

"Lead away, Nabiki-chan," Freya leered, her eyes following the movements of the newly married Saotome with special attention towards her posterior quarters, a fact that in no way reassured a cautious Nabiki.

The cyborg named Moira blinked her eyes then leaned closer to the apprenticed Valkyrie and said, "I don't want to appear rude but...your mother is a very odd woman."

"You're not telling me anything I don't already know," Lyn murmured back as she fell in step behind the others, all following Nabiki as the Lore Master followed her instincts and led the way into the heart of the cavernous fortress...

Roll Call:

Ryoma Saotome -Son of Ukyo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Inaho and Mosquiton the Vampire, 1/8th Vampyr Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Shampoo and Konatsu, Mage/Wicca in training Tachi Kuno -Son of Nabiki and Tatewaki, Nampo Kendo Ryu Efreet Mizuhara -Adopted daughter of Ifurita and Makoto, Demon-Goddess Minos Tarot -Son of Kasumi and Pantsaru, Shotokan Ryu Wanda Kenshiro -Daughter of Ranma and Aila, Fist of the North Star Onnama Saotome -Daughter of Tatewaki and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Touga Kuno -Son of (?) and Tatewaki, Daimyo, Kendo Master Ryonosuke Senzenen -Son of (?) and Mikado Senzenen, Family Retainer Xandar Kurunei -Son of Kaori and Sasuke, House Ninja Yoriko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and (?), House Ninja Minx Tendo -Daughter of Akane and a Wood Sprite, Changeling Ninja

"Man, this place looks radical," Ryoma sniffed, "If you're into mausoleums."

"It does have that down-home Transylvanian charm, doesn't it?" Tarot mused, "Must remind you a lot of the old country, eh Carmine-chan?"

"Very funny," Carmine snorted, "My Dad may hail from the old country but I was born in Hong Kong, so my home is the Mainland."

"My homeland is El Hazard," Efreet remarked with her usual cheerfulness, "It's nice, but I've never really lived there. I tend to make my home anyplace where I live, whether it's with my parents, Carmine or...anybody else who might give me a roof for the night."

"Oh?" Tachi asked in a bit too high an octave.

"Keep your mind on the road, Stick-boy," Minos chided, "We're in the middle of hostile territory, and I'd bet even money that the natives are restless."

"Practice what you preach, big guy," Onnama sniffed, "You're stepping all over your own tongue with the little lady riding up your ass."

"Such colorful descriptions hardly seem appropriate given the nature of our current circumstances," Touga remarked, "I would suggest we keep a lower tone and not telegraph what we are doing to every ear within radius. Stealth would appear to be more in order than to tromp in like a social gathering."

"I am glad to hear someone voice reason on this, my Lord," Ryonosuke murmured at barely the level of a whisper, "Such a place as this suggests a very hard Mistress, and a softer entry would appear to be the order of the day."

"Kinky talk aside, I think you guys are onto something," Ryoma sniffed, "You heard the Daimyo, guys, let's keep a lid on the unnecessary chatter. This place is creepy enough without us attracting the wrong sort of attention."

"Whatever you say, Ryo-chan," Tarot replied, "So...let me make the entirely relevant observation that the force-lines in this structure are extremely unusual and have a high count of negatively charged ionized particles. There is a strong imbalance to the force here, and a powerfully Necromantic air that suggests to me the sinister nature of this structure. I believe evil things feed here from an anti-karmic balance, and the absence of a sufficient counter-  
balancing force implies instability bordering on destruction...the Tower struck by Lightning would be my nearest analogy to that castle we observed before making our entry."

"Thank you, Obi-Wan," Carmine sniffed, "Now, mind telling the rest of us what that means in Japanese?"

"It means that we are in the lair of ultimate evil, dear lady," Touga answered, "Indeed, this confirms my own suspicions from the very beginning. I think it would be wise for us to tread lightly lest the Dead themselves proof restless."

"Death is all around us," Wanda broke her own silence, "I have felt its presence as never before permeating the very earth beneath our feet. This is indeed a place of death and ruin, and its destruction would be a gift to the heavens. When we meet the enemy we must show them no mercy."

"Ah...right," Onnama said, "That's assuming there is an enemy to meet here. I mean...not to throw caution to the wind and all that, but we've been following these caves for about ten minutes now and we haven't met anybody yet..."

"That's the key word, though, Sister," Touga cautioned, "We haven't met them yet, but that could only mean that we are being watched without our knowing."

"I would call that almost a guarantee," Ryonosuke murmured, still unwilling to speak above the level of a low whisper.

"You may be right," Ryoma glanced around without turning his head, "It all depends on what it is your two Ninja guys found that's supposed to be so interesting. In fact, shouldn't we have met up with them by now?"

"You're right," Touga frowned, "How odd...Xandar and Yoriko are masters of stealth and soft penetration..."

"Also at moving in and out of places silently," Ryonosuke dutifully mentioned.

"Ahem, quite," Touga grimaced, "But it is extremely unusual for Minx to be this silent. At the least I would be expecting her to fawn over her latest object of fascination, which at the moment is currently you, dear sister."

"And why am I so privileged?" Wanda grimaced.

"The fates alone know the answer to that one," Touga sighed, "But better you than me, that is all I will say about the matter."

"Ease up on the chatter back there," Ryoma suddenly hissed, "We're heading into a wider corridor, and something in my guts tells me that this is a great place for an ambush."

"My instincts tell me much the same thing," Ryonosuke agreed, "Unfortunately, we do seem to be a bit short of alternatives at the moment."

"Not necessarily," Tarot gave an enigmatic smile to the group, "We are a widely disparate group of highly gifted and talented individuals, and I would suggest we use this fact to our advantage."

"You mean use our talents to our own best advantage in a collective sense?" Efreet wonder.

"No, I mean use her talents," Tarot pointed at Wanda, "Tell me, my overly-large friend...do you know of a technique known as the Exploding Point in your system?"

Wanda just smiled and advanced to the head of the party, leaving Carmine to ask, "Exploding Point? What the heck is that?"

"You'll see," Minos nodded as Wanda advanced to a section of the wall, paused near the openly to scan around the edge, then summoned her power about herself and brought her hand forward to touch a certain section.

All at once the stone exploded as though it were made of some highly combustible material, and the entrance to the next chamber was suddenly twice as wide as before with the air around the opening obscured by the resulting cloud of dust and debris that shot out into the next chamber.

"Oh yeah," Tachi remarked, "That was real subtle..."

"Everybody fan out and be ready!" Ryoma ordered as he flashed his baker's peel and leaped out into the chamber, vaulting from point to point so rapidly that an observing sniper would have been unable to get a bead on his position.

"Why do I think this is all a big mistake?" Carmine grimaced, but then she accelerated to a velocity well beyond human normal and arrived at the opposite end of the room just a little behind Ryoma, even as Efreet took to the air and held her key-staff at the ready. Tachi saw no point in waiting behind and followed after her, his bokken raised as he prepared to meet any challenge that might arise to deter his passage.

Wanda did not even bother to act stealthy as she walked brazenly out into the room, followed in close order by Minos, Touga, Onnama and Ryonosuke. Tarot was already awaiting them when the group completed its crossing of the widening space, but still there was no sign of any menace, which prompted Tachi to remark, "Well...that was a spectacular case of overindulgence. I'd have at least thought some enemy would appear to justify all these precautions."

In response to this statement two bodies hit the floor with a dull thud, drawing their attention back to the middle of the room where they saw the two Ninjas, Xandar and Yoriko, laying battered and badly bruised, just barely breathing for all the injuries which they clearly had sustained.

"What in the name of all that is sacred?" Touga was openly horrified, "Who dares to do this to any of my people?"

"You sound almost as pompous as that strutting popinjay, Kuno," an unwholesome voice remarked in a manner that made one's skin crawl, "They were barely worth the exercise, I give them back to you-slightly used-as a token of my contempt for their shoddy and inadequate training."

All heads turned to look at the figure standing atop a rocky prominence located near to the center of the chamber, where they saw what looked almost like a skeletal figure holding an umbrella as he gazed down at them with an open contempt plain upon his emaciated features. A weird crimson light appeared to be pulsing and resonating from what looked like a jewel actually imbedded into his flesh, and the grinning rictus that he wore gave him a very strange and unhealthy appearance, as though he were not truly human.

"Who the hell are you?" Ryoma demanded while he tensed up in a ready posture.

"My name..." the figure paused for further emphasis, "Is Ryo Muhoshin, and I've come to have fun welcoming you to our little castle filled with horrors. I trust you all have insurance? Oh, by the way, a good call using the Exploding point like that. I never even saw it coming."

"Who the heck is Ryo Muhoshin?" Ryoma wanted to know, "And who's your manicurist? Pol Pot?"

"Your worst nightmare," Muhoshin replied, raising up his umbrella," As I'm about to demonstrate!"

The umbrella struck down and caused the boulder that he was standing atop to fragment and crumble into an avalanche that was sent tumbling in forward motion, threatening to bury the party beneath the crushing press of a thousand metric tons of lethal dirt death and destruction...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Climactic Action Sequences: shadowmane

Things are slowly starting to come together as the gang heads for a final (and fatal) encounter with Karadon and his homicidal thugs while Ranko gathers her posse and prepares for the final assault that will spell doom or salvation to the Multiverse and all who live within it! But will they be successful in time as the clock ticks down to ultimate destruction (and if not, then will any of us be around to even know it?). Find out the next time in: "Those Magnificent Saotomes," or "Showdown at the Not-So-Okay Corral," be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	22. Chapter 22

RanCubed21

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and Others,  
including my fellow fanfic writers, Nicole Manders, Trella,  
Gregg Sharp and DB Sommers, who provided some of the characters and concepts that have appeared in this series, and to TH Tiger for his generous support and advice in the writing of this and many other projects)

Chapter Twenty-One.

The Magnificent Seven Saotomes

Continuum # 46972185

Roll Call:

Ranko Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Akane, Time-Agent Cadet Kachima Tendo -Daughter of Ranma and Nabiki, Lore Master Apprentice

"Y'know, as many times as I've been doing this over the last few days, I've never quite gotten used to these sudden jumps between realities, know what I mean?"

"I think so," Kachima admitted as she glanced around at their immediate surroundings, "On the surface everything here appears to be no different from our own neighborhood, but my senses tell me that there are great and subtle differences to this world, well beyond what one would expect from the mere fact that our father chose another woman to be his wife."

"Yeah," Ranko admitted, "You don't know the half of it. Every world I go to I find stuff that's so wild and topsy-turvy. I never know who I'm gonna wind up calling my brother or my sister, and every guy I run into has a different take on what it means to be a Saotome."

"Speaking of which," Kachima mused, "I must say that I find you to be a most interesting example of what might have happened if Father had chosen to marry my aunt instead of my mother."

"Yeah, well, don't go thinking it was any great shakes on my world," Ranko said as she thought back on the major events of her existence prior to becoming involved with the pendant that she now wore around her breast and depended on for her continued existence, "From what I've seen, I had it a lot rougher than you guys, and my folks didn't exactly have what you'd call a happy marriage."

"Indeed?" Kachima asked, extending a hand as she added, "May I be permitted to review your memories?"

"Review my...what?" Ranko turned to examine her paratime half-sister, only to feel her face being caressed by the gentle fingers of the other girl, feeling a warmth pass between them at the feeling of such contact.

"Just relax," Kachima softly urged, "I won't hurt you, and I won't probe in areas that you do not wish for me to share. I only want to understand you better, and for that I must look into your memories and experience the things that make you what you are today..."

"Ah...what...?" Ranko blinked, and then she found her mind going white, like the blankness of a movie screen, to be filled a moment later by a flow of memories playing out like an OAV series set on "fast-forward."

She experienced once again the major events of her life, both the good and the bad with long-forgotten memories of time spent with her parents rising to the surface. She felt the pain of witnessing her mother's slow decline into madness, followed by the most singularly traumatic occurrence of her existence when she had seen her mother go berserk and murder both Ranko's father and her sisters. Following this were the lonely years filled only with time spent with her grandmother, Nodoka, Kuno Kodachi and Master Happosai, each of whom played a significant role in training her and shaping her budding skills in the martial arts. They were her only friends and companions while she spent an increasing amount of time caring for her ailing grandfather, whose health had taken a stark decline with the deaths of his eldest daughters at the hands of his youngest, and before too long he was totally incapable of caring for himself in even the most basic sense of the word, living in a past that was filled with his own memories and casting a growing pall over the house in which they lived, turning it into a virtual mausoleum on those occasions when Ranko had cause to travel on the road with her "Grandfather" Happosai.

And then the next most singular traumatic moment of her life...Jusenkyo, where she had been forced by her master to relive the incident where her father had partially lost his manhood...only in her case it had been a deliberate thing of her losing part of her femininity to the spring that had given her the opposite of her father's curse. It had caused Ranko no end of mischief ever since, knowing that a single splash of water could cause such bodily changes in her physical and personal makeup. Just learning how to use a restroom had been a revelation by itself, and that was not even going into the number of women who had started to take notice of her in her male form! Her life-already far from simple-had become even more complicated by the element of her curse, and yet somehow she had managed to carry on in spite of it all, and had recently begun an odyssey of self-rediscovery that made the sacrifices of her past seem almost worthwhile...if one could overlook all the pain and the trauma.

The flash of memories eased to a mere trickle, and then the presence that had been probing them withdrew, as did the hand whose warmth was still on Ranko's cheek as her mind returned to the present. As Ranko blinked her blue eyes she found an almost identical set of eyes looking into her own with an infinite warmth of sympathy and compassion.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I had no idea there were so many wounds I would open...there is so much pain that you carry...how can you manage to bear it?"

Ranko drew a shaky breath and had to steady herself before she could frame a coherent reply to that. Ordinarily she would have brushed it off and dismissed the question as irrelevant, but in the light of certainty that such denials would be meaningless she could only heave a heavy sigh and say, "Well...it ain't been easy...but, like...what was the alternative? I just did what I had to..."

"And you did it quite well," Kachima replied, "And for that I would be proud to call you my sister."

Ranko studied the tall and slender girl before her as if only just noticing her for the very first time, then with a wondering tone in her own voice she asked, "What did you do to me? That was...weird..."

"In what sense?" Kachima smiled, "I am a Lore Master, apprenticed to my Mother, who was herself the disciple of a powerful Lore Master before her whose name was Lotion. I have...many skills and many gifts that I have been training to use, the same as you have been doing, sister."

"What's a Lore Master?" Ranko blinked, "I mean...my Mom says she's one, but it's kind of hard to figure her out sometimes, y'know what I mean?"

"Well, since your adopted mother and my real mother are practically identical, I suppose the same rules would apply in both cases, eh?" Kachima said with an amused twinkle in her eyes, "Simply put a Lore Master is one who Knows...the way is the way of Knowledge and understanding. We study the patterns of the Universe, feel the ebb and flow of tidal harmonies, and we listen to the hidden voice that whispers the secrets that are hidden behind the fa ade of mortal existence. We use this knowledge constructively to help those who are in need of our wisdom and our guidance."

"Sounds almost like you guys are some kind of Magic user," Ranko rubbed the back of her head and compared this description to what she had observed in her adopted mother.

"Partially, but our power is only the result of our knowing the ways of elemental existence," Kachima explained, "All energy in the universe flows from a single string of continuity that touches all dimensions and all borders, and by opening ourselves to this inner harmony we become aware of the whispered secrets of eternity. All knowledge is internal, what we do is open ourselves to understanding what is known, and by employing this inner knowledge we become aware of our own potential..."

"Ah, okay," Ranko waved the point off, realizing that it was starting to sound a little too much like one of Happosai's more esoteric lectures, "So in other words you know and you understand stuff, and that means you know where to push the right buttons and all that, right?"

"In a word, yes," Kachima smiled, "I'm sorry if my explanation was a bit too metaphysical. Mother and I are used to lengthy conversations which no one else is able to follow even though we do try and assure them that we are still speaking Japanese. My sister, Shanma, just rolls her eyes up and goes to sleep in the first minute of a lecture...but then she tends to take a lot after our father..."

"Right," Ranko nodded, "The cat lady. Which reminds me...where the heck are we and what are we here to accomplish anyway?"

"That is a very good question," Kachima started to say when her eyes glanced down at the pendant resting over Ranko's bosoms, which chose that moment to begin glowing, forming a pulsating light that projected outward into open space by about two meters. As the two paratime sisters turned to observe this they saw the form of Derek take shape before their eyes in full living detail, albeit that he was slightly transparent and about a meter shorter than the actual Guardian who had sent them on their journey.

"Yes it is," Derek announced, "And it's about time one of you remembered that we're currently facing a little crisis that could spell the doom of all reality. I sent you out to gather a small team of highly significant players whom we-  
meaning yours truly-can use to make the final play at the endgame to this whole adventure. The pendant has been given the coordinates and instructions you will need, all that's required on your end is that you convince the parties in question that this is a big enough emergency to get them to drop whatever they're doing and come join you. Since you already know at least three of these players, getting them on board ought not be a problem, but it's the last three may prove something of a challenge."

"Sir," Kachima spoke up, "Would it be permissible for me to ask the purpose for this gathering? I have noticed that you are rather exclusively targeting individuals who are either alternate universe counterparts to ourselves or who share close relations to our family. Granted there are some highly talented people whom you have so far gathered, but given the extent of the threat to all other realities and their parallels..."

"You're the sharp one, you figure it out," Derek smiled, "I will say this, though...the reason why I've been gathering you is twofold. The first part of the reason is the pendant itself, which was created by a Saotome..."

"Yeah, I head that before," Ranko frowned, "Some guy named Saotome Ryo, who made it using a piece of some artifact called the Nanban mirror..."

"Indeed?" Kachima eyed the pendant with renewed interest, "How curious..."

"That's partly true," Derek revealed, "Ryo did forge the pendant by sealing a piece of the Nanban into a metal locket, but he further added the picture of the woman he was in love with, the daughter of Doctor Tofu and Kasumi, whose name is Belldandy," the Guardian paused to give them a sardonic leer before adding, "I don't suppose it would be giving anything away to let you kids know that Belldandy is the name of a certain Goddess of the Present who currently resides at a temple with her mortal husband, Morisato Keiichi...?"

"Oh yes," Kachima replied, "I know quite nearly all that there is to know about my Aunt Belldandy. Her daughter is a very good friend of mine..."

"Not surprising," Derek continued, "Well...if you know enough about Gods you'll understand what it means when a mortal is a Template to a goddess, like your Aunt Kasumi is to Belldandy..."

"She is?" Ranko blinked, then paused and said, "Morisato...wait a minute...you mean Veil's mother?"

"Veil is the name of the daughter of Keiichi and Belldandy on one set of timelines," Derek replied, "And the Belldandy who is cousin to the both of you could be accounted as her template, which means that she is linked through her to the Universal Computer known as Yggdrasil. By placing a token that had a strong emotional resonance to the Divine Aspect inside the locket and fusing it to a mirror that was designed to react to strong emotional resonances, Ryo unwittingly created a two-way link to Yggdrasil itself through the pendant, giving it the ability to control the access corridors of time and space, depending on whomever had possession of it, which currently means you, Saotome. In point of fact, the pendant having been created through use of a spell gained from a scroll that had been in Master Happosai's possession, was given a portion of Ryo's soul in the bargain...a small portion at that, easily missed and of an almost inconsequential nature..."

"Sir," Kachima said gravely, "You are wise and knowledgeable enough to know that no portion of a persona's spirit is ever inconsequential."

"Granted," Derek replied, "Poor choice of words. What I meant is that Ryo himself was driven by the need to create the pendant as he thought it would be his only means of crossing the time and space barriers separating him from his true beloved. His grief and desperation were crafted as a primary aspect of the spell and helped to give the pendant a life of its own so that it was able to become independently intelligent over the course of time, which in turn led to the pendant deciding that it needed an owner who could be trusted to properly wield its awesome power. By necessity it required that its wielder be of the blood of the Saotomes, and after studying a number of potential candidates it eventually selected you, Ranko. That's why it helped to arrange the circumstances by which you came to be bonded to it, which brings us, of course, to the reason why Saotomes are the key element to our current dilemma."

"We're listening," Ranko said with a narrowing of her blue eyes, "Does the other part of this business have something to do with that Karadon guy?"

"My brother," Derek sighed, "Or rather I should say my mad, impetuous younger sibling from among the Guardians of Prime Earth. You might say he's the black sheep of the Multiverse, a renegade in every sense, who isn't just content to stand back and observe the progress of the Timefield, occasionally dabbling or interfering where we deem it necessary. Oh no! He has this "Holier than Thou' attitude that makes him such a perfectionist that he deems the current reality as a flawed, inferior product derived from a set of baseline miscalculations. Think of him as the Adversary or Temper who keeps mucking things up in the hopes of destabilizing the whole equation. He wants to tear down the very structure of mortal existence and rebuild it over again from scratch...to literally hit the bit 'DELETE' key and return things to its original baseline model."

"Can he actually achieve this?" Kachima asked, "Granted, I sense vast power within you, sir, but to take on the aspect of a God..."

"Oh, we're quite above mortal concepts of what Gods are," Derek said cheerfully, "We use equipment only to enhance our natural abilities. We're not actually Omniscient and Omnipotent, but we're close enough to the basic idea that it really doesn't matter. Believe me, if Karadon were able to wipe out existence as we know it, he has the means at his disposal to go back in time and restart everything all over, making changes to the timeline at whatever points he deems appropriate in order to create a Present timeline that is more to his liking. It doesn't matter at all to him if trillions of sentient beings have to die and be reborn into different aspects, that's just a necessary inconvenience that he is prepared to accept as a part of his equations. To him it's just a matter of replacing an 'inferior' model with a newly upgraded support system, rather like reconfiguring a computer by deleting old files and introducing a new operating system."

"Which of course means that the lives we've lived and the history we know will be irrevocably altered," Kachima said, "We either will never have been born or created, or else we'll turn into different facsimiles of ourselves who won't even remember any of this ever having happened."

"I'm afraid it's a bit of both, actually," Derek replied, "One of the main alterations Karadon is hoping to achieve is to eliminate any possibility of Saotome Ranma of ever having come into existence."

"Huh?" Ranko said, "How come? I mean...sure, he doesn't like Pop, but..."

"It's not just a matter of disliking your father," Derek replied, "Saotome Ranma is the very embodiment of everything my brother loathes about the current reality. He is chaos theory personified, a living, breathing Quantum Flux who changes things just by his merely existing. Ranma is a catalyst, a mover and a shaker, the kind of guy who just was not destined to live a quiet life of nondescript existence. He is the Temporal Nexus most capable of influencing the direction of the future, a living anomaly who could-just by being born-  
totally screw with and alter Karadon's plans for an ideal existence. Try as he might he can never totally eliminate the 'X' factor that your father brings in one form or another, and even on worlds where Ranma dies an early death he still has influence well beyond the grave. The same can also be said about you, his children, and the destinies you forge through your own actions..."

"You mean we're just as much a threat to him as Father," Kachima divined, "And that is why he is aiming his device towards all the realities that boast a Saotome Ranma."

"Gee, ain't we lucky?" Ranko said sarcastically.

"Exactly," Derek continued, "But it goes both ways here. You're a threat to Karadon, he's a threat to you, but the very means with which he intends to destroy reality can be turned back on him by the same token, and that is why you need to gather just a few more players for me who can be instrumental to ending this scourge forever."

"I see," Kachima mused, "Se we are more than pawns here...we have the potential to become Queens and checkmate his ambitions."

"Think of it as a game of 'Go' in which the pieces double in value at the end," Derek replied, "Of course in assembling your little group as I have, I had the problem of deciding how I would gain their cooperation. One thing you Saotomes do respond to is a challenge, but you can be pretty stubborn when it comes to volunteering for things, and I know you hate being manipulated."

"Yeah," Ranko frowned, "About that...would it have hurt you to ask me for my help? I would have volunteered if you'd explained this at the beginning."

"You I have no doubt about," Derek replied, "But your adopted parents are a different story. I've had business dealings with that particular aspect of Saotome and, well...he's a pretty tough customer to work under ideal circumstances, but if I told him that I needed to borrow you, do you think he'd have felt okay about it? For that matter, think about your mother. I may be powerful, but not too many guys I can name ever got the better in a negotiation session with even a non-powered Tendo Nabiki. No way would they have agreed to let you risk your hide without very strong motivation. They tend to be rather protective towards you, in case you haven't noticed."

"Ah...yeah...good point," Ranko replied with a very sheepish expression.

"So...what can you tell us about the particular individuals whom you would have us recruit?" Kachima asked, "I take it they are all half-siblings, like ourselves?"

"Got it in one, Beautiful," Derek winked, "And being that you have had mystical training, I take it you know what an Ogduod means?"

"Oh..." Kachima's eyes widened by a fraction, "An Eight-point star? Curious...yes...I think I do see what you are alluding to..."

"Ah..." Ranko eyed her companion dubiously, "If I ask you to explain that...will I be sorry?"

"That all depends," Kachima smiled, "Most people can only perceive reality in four dimensions...length, width, depth and time, the basic four Levels of reality that embody the Mind, Body, Emotions and Spirit. But beyond these four perceived dimensions are an additional eighteen that overlap and magnify one another, only four of which are relevant here, the four Octaves that range in magnitude to from the Aleph to the Celestial...just as the basic Four are the dimensions of Matter, these four are of a more evolved, spiritual..."

"I think I'm going to take a pass here," Ranko pleaded, "So we're talking Eight Dimensions, right? Swell...guess that's not so complicated as twenty-two, but still..."

"Not just eight dimensions," Derek replied, "More like Eight levels of being overlapping. If you think of yourself as the Primary level, then each corresponding level is a step removed in complexity, and each represents a different order to being with your companion here embodying the Seventh Principle of understanding."

"Curious," Kachima mused, "Then who is number Eight?"

"You'll see soon enough," Derek mused, "In fact, if you two ladies will chance to cast your eyes over that way, you'll observe Level Six currently engaged in a display of some of her usual antics."

"Eh?" Kachima turned her head to follow the direction indicated by the fading image of the Guardian, but Ranko was the first to gasp, "You mean...HER? Oh wow!"

"I leave it to you from here on out," Derek replied before his voice and image dwindled to nothing, "Just leave it to the pendant to take you where you have to go and the rest is up to you. Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have other business to attend..."

The two sisters felt the presence leave them as the light from the pendant diminished, but their attention was presently focused upon a major altercation currently in progress between a score of costumed figures fighting against a lone girl whose long silver-white hair flowed about her like a mane of moonlight. As they watched she spun around and sent a gaudily dressed man flying across the width of the street to collide with a phone pole, then run and gave a double-kick backwards that sent two more men reeling into a wall while she continued to execute a flawless somersault that brought her down to a one-  
point landing on the skull of a forth man, all in the space of a single heartbeat.

"Who is that?" Kachima marveled, "She looks a little like...Shanma..."

"Not surprising," Ranko grinned, "They've got the same two parents. C'mon, I'll introduce you!"

Even as the two sisters spoke the fleet-footed, white-haired girl was dishing out punishment to her heavily armed opponents. Some of these men had odd weaponry such as pole arms and shock-sticks, which same they were attempting to use to subdue the silver-haired girl. One even tried employing a pair of electrified gauntlets, but the girl was having none of it and seemed to shrug off their best efforts when they scored. She displayed incredibly strength, speed, power and a supple coordination that was nothing less than superhuman to turn the disparity of numbers into an advantage, causing her enemies to stumble and collide with one another, rendering their offensive highly ineffective as they tended more to get in each others way while she had no such similar disadvantage.

"She's good," Kachima nodded as the two of them approached the altercation, "Nice control, she has a natural sense of strategy and battlefield tactics..."

"She's good and she knows it," Ranko agreed, "Which is part of her charm when you really get to know her."

One of the men managed to finally score a hit with his shock-staff, and for a moment the Silver-haired girl stood paralyzed as the sound of an electrified buzzing filled the air. Other assailants sensed the opening and plunged in with their own shock-staffs, striking the girl a number of times as she stood rigid and bucked to the punishing treatment.

All at once she came alive and grabbed two of the sock-staves, and then to the complete astonishment of everyone but Ranko she proceeded to use them against their own users, shocking several foes into insensate status before clubbing several others and thereby dispatching half a dozen of her attackers. She then shoved a hand at the chest of one individual and caused him to jolt as if electrified, and with that lifted him over her head and dumped him into the laps of several other men who each were twice as large as herself.

"Oh my," Kachima paused to observe, "How did she manage that? It's as if she just shrugged off several thousand volts and absorbed the energy into her body."

"One of her specialties," Ranko replied, "She's had advantaged training, just like us, but she picked that particular talent from the Pop of this world. Besides which...I've got memories of this play she was in called Romeo and Juliet..."

With systematic efficiency the Silver-haired girl finished off her remaining attackers then stood poised on one leg, holding a "borrowed" pole-arm poised and at the ready as if waiting to see if any more enemies put in an appearance. As she stood there at the ready, one figure did pry itself off the ground, lifting a hand that held a wicked-looking gun of some sort, and took a moment to aim...right up until Kachima pointed a finger his way and said, "Bang."

Said gun exploded into pieces, startling the girl while Ranko casually walked up and kicked the offending gunman back into unconsciousness. The silver haired girl turned around to look fully at the two people remaining standing, then in a nonchalant tone of voice said, "You again?"

"Yep, me," Ranko grinned, "Hey Silver, how's it going? Keeping busy with these playmates?"

"These losers?" Silver snorted as she tossed aside her pole arm, "Just some bunch of clowns who call themselves the 'Sons of the Serpent,' or something like that. Pop had a run in with them some years ago and now they've come back into town looking for trouble. Nice trick with the gun, by the way, not that I didn't see him, and I would've taken him myself in another second."

"Uh-huh," Kachima skeptically replied, "It would seem your opponents were attempting to take you alive, which gave them a decided disadvantage. Just the same you handled them like a Saotome..."

"Oh?" Silver glanced from the brown haired girl to Ranko and back again, "You're another one of those?"

"Afraid so," Ranko replied, "Tendo Kachima, meet Saotome Silver, our mutual sister from this timeline. Silver, meet Kachima..."

"My pleasure," Kachima eyed their silver-haired sibling with a speculative gleam in her eyes as she studied the other girl in a very appreciative manner.

"Uh oh," Silver blinked, "Don't tell me...her Mom's...Aunt Nabiki?"

"Why?" Ranko asked, "Is that any stranger than Pop marrying my Mom?"

"I wasn't saying nothing about that," Silver defensively replied, "It's just...no offense...but something tells me I oughta be reaching for my wallet..."

"I'm not offended," Kachima smiled, "And you couldn't afford my rates anyway. Interesting and well met indeed..."

"Ah...likewise," Silver said uneasily, "Look...what's this all about, Ranko? You only show up when you've got some kind of multi-dimensional crisis on your hands. Didn't we give enough at the office on the last job?"

"You think?" Ranko could not help grinning, "Well, this time around it's nothing as...ah...recreational as the last time..."

"That's a relief," Silver shrugged, "I'm still a little bow-legged from that last job."

"Oho?" Kachima cocked an eyebrow, "What happened to you the last time you were on a mission together?"

"Ah..." Ranko smiled weakly, "Let's just say it wasn't like a ride at Disney..."

Silver snorted, "Got that right. So...if it ain't about somebody trying to ride my ass, what is it this time?"

"Who said nobody was out to ride your ass?" Ranko leered affectionately, "I still owe you for that last trip to the House of the Miroku."

"Oh, you think so, huh?" Silver leered back, "Well, as I seem to recall things, it was your sweet ass that was getting a good ride the last time. You think you're Man enough to return the favor?"

"Just try me," Ranko stepped over a groaning body and came to stand within a foot of the other girl, "I can ride your ass any day, you just watch me!"

"Heh, I'd like to see you try it," Silver replied in the same humor.

"I just might," Ranko mused, "I never let a debt go unpaid, and I owe you."

"Well, put it on my tab why don't you," Silver leered back, their faces now so close that they were almost touching.

Kachima was struck by the stunning similarity of the two girls, both of whom were almost identical in height and basic dimensions for all the subtle differences in facial make-up and hair color. If one were to give them a pair of wigs and switch them around it would have been daunting to try and tell them apart, and the resemblance was more than superficial. There was a kinship that went well beyond sisterhood as blue eyes gazed into blue eyes and a silent challenge was issued, and gladly accepted.

"Oh my," Kachima started to fan herself, coming to the surprising realization that she was feeling a bit hot under her collar, and the sight of these two was causing her to feel a little wet around her panties.

"So," Ranko said after the passage of several (highly sensual) moments, "You gonna come with us...or do I have to get nasty?"

"Do your worst," Silver challenged, "I can take anything you think you can dish out and come back for seconds."

"The deal's this," Ranko said, "We go stomp on the bad guy, save the Multiverse, get back home and then I'll take you on one-on-one and make you eat those words, Sis."

"You're on!" Silver agreed, "So...when do we get started?"

"Right away," Ranko said, "First we gotta get the old gang together, and then we get down and dirty."

"That sounds right up my alley," Silver mused, then paused as a familiar tingling sensation passed over her skin, prompting her to sigh, "Here we go again..."

"Oh yes," Kachima mused, glancing around as they once more experienced a dramatic change of venue...

Continuum # 472193567

Roll Call:

Rinse Saotome -Daughter of Shampoo and Ranma, heir to the Anything Goes Ryu Yinra Saotome -Daughter of Akane and Ranma, younger sister to Rinse Yangra Saotome -Son of Akane and Ranma, twin brother to Yinra Tachi Kuno -Daughter of Nabiki and Tatewaki, Kendo Master Ryeka Masaki -Daughter of Ayeka and Ryoko, half Juraian Princess Atari Moroboshi -Daughter of Lum and Ataru, Princess of the Oni Ryoukio Hibiki -Son of Ukyo and Ryoga, heir to the Kuonji School of Okonomiyaki Brand Tendo -Son of Kurumi and Mousse, Hidden Weapons Master Ivory Kuno -Daughter of Kodachi and Mousse, Rhythmic Gymnastics

"Ah...well...so you see, Pop, Moms, guys," Rinse nervously summarized her presentation, "That's...kind of the deal that Tachi-chan and me came up with. We...ah...kind of hoped maybe you could possibly, like, suggest something here? I mean...I know it sounds a bit...odd...but, well...it's kind of the way things are...know what I mean?"

Stony silence met her from all around, doing nothing to improve the state of her mental disposition. She looked to Tachi for support and saw the silent nod of her beloved cousin, who herself was also in the spotlight. Tachi cleared her throat and said, "We know it must sound odd, but given the events of the past few days, Rin-chan and I have had to...reevaluate certain issues in light of recent developments..."

A finger was raised signifying that one of the parents present wished to voice an opinion, and given that it was Tachi's own mother, she felt the need to yield the floor, at which point Kuno Nabiki said, "You came up with this on your own...after discovering that you two share an...affinity for one another?"

"Ah...more or less yes, Mom," Tachi hastily indicated the other girls at the table, "Ryeka and Atari both insist that they have valid claims that predate the arrangements you made for us a couple of days ago..."

"Arrangements you seemed to agree with at the time as I remember," Nabiki noted.

"Is this true, daughter?" Tachi's father spoke up, "Have you and the eldest of the Saotome clan truly agreed between yourselves to share joint arrangements in forming a more...domestic union?"

"Ah...yeah, Dad," Tachi smiled weakly, "It wasn't like we planned on things happening the way they did, but..."

"But you want my son to go along with this," Kodachi spoke up, "Is my Brand nothing more to you than so mere gigolo that you can contract out to sate your needs for a man in such a union?"

"Mom!" Brand immediately protested.

"My brother may be many things," Ivory said hotly, "But he's no woman's gigolo."

"I have to side with 'Dachi on this one," Kurumi informed her son, "Your interests are being compromised by such an agreement, and I'm sure Ukyo here would agree that her son's claims are no less vital than any rival."

"You got that right, Sugar," Ukyo said with arms folded, "I went through that hell once before myself, ain't no way I'm gonna sit back and let the same thing happen to my little Ryoukio-chan. How about you, husband?"

"No way," Ryoga nodded, "It was a matter of honor that forged the agreement. The Saotome clan owes the Kuonji for the promise that was broken, and since your daughter was agreeable to the engagement when we announced it, Ranma..."

"Hey, I never said these kids would have to agree to anything," Ranma protested, "I said we should give them the right to choose whether to go along with it or not..."

"But a promise is a promise, Saotome," Mousse insisted, "If you compromise on that then you surrender any claim your family has to a sense of honor."

"But that's not fair!" Rinse protested, "I'm not compromising anything here! I just can't choose one guy and leave everybody else unhappy! It's not fair to either Atari or Ryeka-chan, and not just Tachi and Brand! Ryoukio-kun...you understand where I'm coming from, don't you?"

"Hah?" the brown haired boy in question responded, still looking like he was in shock after hearing the odd proposition."

"Are you saying you want to have it all and not be forced to choose?" Akane asked her co-daughter.

"Yeah, Sis," Yinra complained, "We know you like to try and please everybody, but...sheesh!"

"Isn't this, like, a little too much of a good thing?" Yangra agreed with his twin sister.

"Not at all," Ryeka spoke up from her end of the room, "I don't see why Rin-chan can't decide to have all of us. After all, she has two mothers, I have two mothers, Brand-san has two mothers, so what's so strange about Rinse having the both of us for her co-wives?"

"Indeed," Atari mused, "From our perspective it is the boys who are gaining the advantage here. There would be four of us to the two of them, and what virile young man could resist such a tempting offer?"

"Are you saying that you girls are actually going along with this?" Tenchi Masaki asked of his daughter.

"Well hey," Ataru Moroboshi shrugged his shoulders, "Guess it runs in the family after all. I mean, I always dreamed about having my own Harem..."

"A harem...Darling?" his wife rumbled ominously as she laid a hand to his shoulder, a hand that crackled softly, causing the lecherous man to feel something more acute than a light tingle.

"Ah-Lum-chan..." Ataru gasped, "I never said that I needed a harem when you were around...you're more than enough woman to satisfy any man...I swear it!"

"I hate to be the one to agree with the lecher," Ryoko spoke up, "But are you sure this is what you want, kid? I mean, it's one thing to get into a group arrangement, as Ayeka and I both know with Tenchi, but you and the Oni Princess don't exactly get along on the best of terms, know what I mean?"

"Neither did we as I seem to recall," Ayeka herself added in, "But still, I cannot help but feel the same way. After all you have been fighting almost constantly with the Moroboshi child since the two of you met last year..."

"Ah...I hate to be the one to point this out," Tenchi said, "But...exactly how many times did you guys come close to destroying our whole house?"

"Ah-!" both Space Pirate and Juraian Princess hastily glanced away in almost opposite directions.

"Not to worry, folks," Ryeka smiled, "Atari and me found away to get around the little problem of our mutual antagonism."

"Just so," Atari nodded, "We each found a way in which we could settle our aggressions and arrive at a...mutually beneficial position. Several of them in fact."

"Oh really?" Akane asked, "What kind of positions are those?"

"AH!" Rinse could not hold back on a sudden surge of panic, "It's-ah-not-  
ah-that is-!"

"I have only one question."

All eyes turned to the person who had spoken, a very calm-seeming Shampoo, who up until now had been content to sit back and listen to the others, "How did you arrive at this arrangement, Daughter?"

"Er...well..." Rinse began to feel along the back of her head, "We...ah...kind of had this contest when we were between...ahm...crisis-ah...Tachi? What's the plural for Crisis?"

Tachi smiled at her companion and said, "What she means is that we...met up with some friends who gave us some...ah...pretty good advice on how we could settle our mutual differences. Atari and Ryeka agreed to participate, and after a couple of rounds..."

"You mean they defeated you?" Shampoo asked.

"Huh?" Shampoo blinked, "Ah...well..."

"Then you defeated them?" the purple haired Saotome persisted.

"What?" said the boy named Tenko, "Oneechan...is that true?"

"Sister," said Ryeka's half-sister, Tenko, "Did you compete for Rinse's affections...and lose?"

"Lose?" Ryeka blinked, "Me? Never!"

"Oho?" said Princess Nintendo, "Then does that mean you lost, Oneechan?"

"Who, me?" Atari looked offended by the proposition.

"Then who did win, Sis?" asked Princess Sierra.

"Er...well..." Atari faltered as she thought that one over.

"Oneechan?" Yangra asked of Rinse.

"Er...well..." Rinse hesitated.

"We all did," Tachi promptly filled in for her, "But if you want the unbiased truth, Ryeka did get the edge over Atari-chan for a while there. Of course in the end it was a mutual decision to declare victory as a shared concept, especially after the second round proved so...entertaining."

"There was a second round?" Ranma asked, "Just what kind of a contest was this anyway?"

"Ah..." all four teenaged girls said together before Tachi, Rinse, Ryeka and Atari exchanged anxious glances.

"In that case," Shampoo said, "It would seem that a mutual victory would mean that a shared responsibility has resulted between you four, and since you are allied by marriage agreements to the sons of Ukyo and Kurumi, this involves them as well in the same arrangement. I believe that you six must settle this between yourselves and not worry so much about what we elders would have you decide."

"WHAT?" came the mutual gasp of surprise from her fellow "elders" of the previous generation.

"Y'know, that does kind of make sense," Ranma mused, the lone holdout in the surprise department, "This all started when Rinse defeated Atari and accidentally grabbed her by the horns..."

"Accidentally?" Atari protested.

"And that is what prompted the rivalry with Ryeka," Ranma continued, "When we made the arrangement to have Ryoukio engaged to Rin-chan we overlooked the rival suits of Masaki and Moroboshi. I think we may have acted too hasty in deciding these arrangements and we should have allowed the kids more time to sort things out for themselves. After all, isn't that the same mistake our parents made with us? And remember all the confusion that resulted from that?"

"Loath as I am to agree with you, Saotome," Tatewaki mused, "I believe you do speak wisdom on this one occasion. The path of honor is neither simple nor without price, but demanding these young people pay the price for our presumption is neither wise nor honorable. I trust my daughter's judgement, she has much of the vision of her mother within her, and as such I know her to be capable of knowing her own mind and following her heart wherever it may lead her."

"You just wish you had the same choice she has," Nabiki smirked, "Marrying both of the people she desires...'I must have them both!'"

"Hoist on my own petard," Kuno smiled, "You remind me once again why I never engage in debate with you, wife."

"That may be good enough for you," Ukyo protested, "But what about my son's claim on your daughter, Ranchan?"

"Ucchan," Ranma said, "Do you remember the way you felt all those years ago when we were engaged? Would you honestly expect me to choose between you, Shampoo and Akane and not expect to hurt somebody's feelings? Take Kodachi here...I never took her seriously enough when she was out to marry me, and I hurt her feelings more than I ever understood at the time..."

"Well," Kodachi marveled, "It's about time I heard you acknowledge this, Saotome. And here I thought you just regarded me as lower than dirt..."

"I never thought that," Ranma said, "But at the time you didn't make it too easy on me...nobody did, just like I didn't make things easy at myself. There was too much pressure, too many demands put on all of us, and we were just kids at the time. Who could expect us to know what we were doing at the time? I sure didn't! Heck, you Pop and mine didn't help matters out any when we were a solo act, Akane, and remember how they reacted when we made that deal with Cologne and included Shampoo into the package?"

"Ah...well..." Akane glanced down, "I guess...yeah...things did work out for the better, though, once Shampoo and I...well...we..."

"My point exactly," Shampoo smiled, "And in my opinion the three of us have made a more solid union than we would have known had only one of us married Ranma. I think it's more than fair to extend the same benefit of the doubt to Rin-chan."

"A fair deal for everyone?" Ukyo asked as she glanced at Ryoga.

"It does sound more than reasonable," Tenchi nodded as he exchanged glances with both of his wives, then at his other son and daughter before turning back to Ryeka.

"Is this truly what you desire, my darling?" Lum asked, "To share congress with this...woman?"

"It may be a less than ideal situation, Mother," the green-haired girl replied, "But life without Rin-chan is not to be contemplated, so if having her means putting up with the occasional nuisance..."

"Who are you calling a nuisance?" Ryeka sniffed, "But if it comes down to it, Rin-chan does seem rather fond of you for some reason, so I suppose I could put up with you for a little while."

"And what about the boys?" Akane asked, "Do you guys actually want to be a part of this too?"

Brand and Ryoukio exchanged glances, then looked at the four girls, who were looking back with questioning expressions.

"Son," Ryoga spoke up, "Do you understand what they are saying? Because I sure don't..."

"Dad," Ryoukio said, "I really don't know what to say. I mean...I like the girls, sure, but...well...it all just seems...that is...ah..."

"Two of us against four of them?" Brand finished for him.

"You make it sound like pro-wrestling," Tachi smiled winsomely, "But there's a lot more to a relationship than that, and if you give us a chance you may find things work to your advantage."

"And what exactly do you expect my brother to do, Witch?" Ivory challenged, "Service your needs and the rest of these harridans?"

"Harridans?" Ryeka bristled.

"Gee, I wonder where she picked that one up from?" Nabiki arched an eyebrow in Kodachi's direction.

"What can I say?" Kodachi smiled back, "She is her mother's daughter."

"And that's a good thing?" Ryoga asked, then winced as his wife gave him a shot in the ribs with her elbow, "Ow."

"Well then," Ranma said, "Are we all on board on this? I wasn't crazy about setting up this double engagement thing, but if the girls can work something out together, and the guys are okay about sharing, then I say we leave it in their hands and give them all the support we can. Are you all with me on this?"

"I'm with you, Ranma," Shampoo said, then looked meaningfully in Akane's direction.

"Well..." Akane sighed, "I agree with Ranma that forcing the issue would be just like repeating the mistakes of the past, and we all can pretty much remember what that was like."

"Don't forget, they're also still in their teens," Tenchi added, "We can also remember what that was like, and I vote that we give them the time to find themselves, just like we did before we got married."

"Well, I don't see any problems with that," Ryoko shrugged, "Do you, Ayeka?"

"No indeed," Ayeka agreed, "Even if it does mean allowing our daughter to cohabitate with a woman of the Oni."

"Hey!" Lum protested, "You think it's any better that I allow my daughter to be associated with a Juraian?"

"Calm down you two," Ataru urged, "Let's try and act like friends here."

"Friends?" Mousse adjusted his glasses, "I suppose you could call us that, though at times it seems more like we're just former enemies who have agreed to abide by one another's existence."

"Thank you for reminding us of that so-inconvenient fact," Ukyo growled, "But I guess I'm for it, too...just as long as it's what you want, Ryo-chan."

"Well..." Ryoukio scratched the back of his head and said, "I guess it doesn't seem so bad. What do you think, Dad?"

"I..." Ryoga looked around the table then slumped his shoulders and sighed, "What do I know about it? I couldn't even remain faithful to one woman without winding up falling for another. If you can make it work for you, then I guess I'll support you."

"And what about you, Son?" Kurumi asked, "'Dachi, your father and I were able to make a threesome work, so do you think you can double the numbers?"

"I..." Brand turned to look into Tachi's eyes and saw the hopefulness in her expression, "I...guess I could think about it...maybe..."

"What maybe?" Ivory protested, "Surely you're not going to let yourself be drawn into something like this, little Brother?"

"I think your brother is of an age when he can weight the benefits and disadvantages for himself, dear," Kodachi gently chided her daughter. "And since we all seem to be agreed to permit this union to go forward, might I suggest we move on to the next all-too-important issue that we left unsettled the other day, where to hold the wedding?"

"I thought we were going to have it in the dojo?" Ranma asked.

"Too small," Lum replied, "Not that there is anything wrong with your house, but it couldn't begin to afford adequate seating to the number of guests that we would be inviting to our oldest daughter's first wedding."

"First wedding?" Ataru eyed his green haired wife with some confusion.

"That is why we should hold the ceremony at the Kuno mansion," Tatewaki suggested, "There we could accommodate the emperor and empress of Japan for their semi-annual holiday festival..."

"Too bad Cheery Blossoms are out of season," Kodachi mused, "But I agree that the mansion would be large and spacious enough to give our son a proper wedding."

"That drab and dusty old place?" Lum sniffed, "I have a much, much better place in mind: the Palace on Omicron IV, where my husband and I were wed almost twenty blissful Earth-years ago..."

"Oh Lum, you are such a kidder," Ayeka laughed into her sleeve, "The only real place that would be appropriate for a Princess of the Jurai would be in the Sacred Hall of Jurai on planet Tengu III, where Ryoko and I accepted Lord Tenchi as our husband under the light of the Holy Stars, receiving the blessings of my father, King Azusa of Jurai..."

"And why should your palace get precedence over mine?" Lum glared, "By rights it should be my daughter's birthright that takes precedence over your own, not the other way around."

"Oh yeah?" Ryoko glared, "And how do you reckon that?"

"Why, isn't it obvious?" Lum asked, "Your daughter is little more than a science experiment that happened to work out rather well, whereas mine is the true and proper child of a lineage that stretches back into antiquity..."

"Yeah," Ryoko snarled, "Right up until you got your buts kicked out of this sector of the cosmos!"

"And why should your rights be respected over ours, you...obnoxious Aliens?" Kodachi sniffed.

"What did you just call us?" Ayeka bridled.

"Uh...girls?" Tenchi said nervously.

"Does it really matter so much where we hold the Wedding?" Ataru asked.

"Yeah," Ranma added, "Just getting our kids together..."

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" they were informed by their very irate wives and ladies.

Shampoo heaved a sigh and stood up, then turned to Rinse and Tenchi before adding, "Maybe you kids should step outside and have some fresh air while we adults settle things like mature and reasonable people, eh?"

"Eh...no problem, Auntie," Tachi agreed, seizing Rinse by the arm, "Come along, Cuz, let's let the parental units hash out the details in their usual calm and understanding manner, shall we?"

"Huh?" Rinse asked faint-heartedly, then blinked her eyes and said, "Oh...right. Guys?"

"We thought you'd never ask, Rinse-honey," Ryeka agreed.

"Well behind you," Atari seconded with great enthusiasm.

Yangra sighed as he, too, got up and turned to his sister, waiting until they had left the room before asking, "How long do you think they'll be at it this time?"

"Difficult to say," Yinra responded, "Given the level of heat they're giving off, I'd say it won't be safe to return to ground zero for another two or three hours at the least."

"I just hope the house is still standing when we get back," Brand said as the increasing din of shouting and argument filled the air immediately behind them.

"Yeah," Ryoukio agreed, "They sure can get worked up over practically nothing...which reminds me...are you really serious about this, Rin-chan? I mean...I know our engagement was kind of sudden and out of the blue a couple of days ago, but still..."

"Oh yeah," Rinse sighed, "It...kind of came up yesterday when Tachi and me were...ah...well..." she colored slightly at the memory of laying in a bed with several exhausted girls all forming a living blanket over her tired and well-  
satisfied body and decided against sharing too many of the details with the others.

"We all agreed to it," Atari said gently, "It was...the most logical arrangement that we could come up with under the circumstances."

"Logical?" Ivory asked, giving Tachi a meaningful glare, "And I suppose we have you to thank as the brains behind yet another dubious proposal."

"Hey," Tachi tried to sound reasonable, "We didn't do this just because it sounded like a great way for us all to justify having sex-AH-I mean, to make out...er..."

"Oh, good one," Rinse sighed, thinking of how it was usually her and not Tachi who made such Freudian slips out of simple statements.

"Do go on," asked Princess Nintendo, "I'm sure we're all just dying to hear the details surrounding what happened to provoke this notion that Oneechan should wed the five of you as a virtual harem."

"Nothing virtual about it, kid," Ryeka replied with a leer, "Your big Sis and me, well...we came up with it as the most reasonable way for her to save face after I rode her ass to her complete surrender..."

"What do you mean you rode my...?" Atari blinked, "You take that back immediately, you...hussy!"

"Imoutochan," Tenko chided, "You shouldn't call her names like that if you intend to marry her. I think it would be wisest if you did apologize, Sister..."

"Me apologize?" Ryeka bridled, "To her?"

"Well, why not?" Brand asked, "If we're gonna get along like our parents did and all that..."

"Oh sure," Yinra sniffed back to the growing ruckus emanating from the house, "That's some example."

"I think you all owe my brother an apology for whatever debaucherous behavior preceded this...decision to form a group marriage," Ivory declared, "As if any of you were worthy of marrying into our illustrious family..."

"Oh yeah," Ryeka snorted, "That coming from the daughter of a pair of loons makes perfect sense..."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?" Ivory all but exploded.

"Uh...oh..." Rinse said faintly, feeling the tension in the air increase around her.

"I think this does not look good," Tachi turned to her, patting her gently on the wrist before whispering in her ear, "Why don't you take a powder and let everyone cool their heads for a bit, Cousin? Then when you get back we can settle matters like reasonable people."

"Hey, what are you whispering in her ear for?" Atari demanded, "I had thought we had agreed to settle everything between us openly like full equals."

"Equals?" Yinra snorted, "Since when did you treat anyone as your equal, huh?"

"You leave our Big Sister alone!" declared Princess Sierra.

"Yeah," said Princess Sega, "Bad enough she's wedding a commoner in the first place..."

"I thought your Dad was a commoner too?" Ryoukio asked reasonably (and in typical disregard for the warning signals that were being flashed towards him by Rinse and the others).

"Oh my," Tenko sighed.

"Here we go again," agreed Teneka.

"I see what you mean," Rinse murmured back to Tachi, "Wanna join me in getting a soda?"

"Maybe later," Tachi replied, "But I think one of us should stay here to calm the troops, and I guess that I'm elected."

Rinse was about to thank her cousin-turned-iinazuke, but that was when the first crackle of lightning started to sizzle the air as Atari and Ryeka began to square off for another round, so instead she took a quick powder by leaping over the gates before anyone could notice that she was in motion. A quick sprint of several blocks later confirmed that she was not being immediately followed, which allowed her to slow down and catch her breath, sighing heavily as the distant sounds of thunder erupted back the way she had just traveled.

"I hate my life," she sighed, "Why do they always have to make things so complicated...?"

"Problems on the homefront?" a familiar voice asked her.

Rinse all but jumped out of her skin as she whirled around and found herself face-to-face with two familiar faces (and one face that did look kind of familiar, owing to the fact that there was a strong resemblance to Tachi), to which point she blinker her eyes and said, "You? Ranko?"

"In the flesh," the redhead smiled at her, "Only better dressed this time than the last one."

"Quick!" Rinse all but jumped towards their little group, "Are you here to nab me on another grand tour of time and space where we save the Multiverse from anything that's really bad and ugly?"

"Uh...yeah," Ranko blinked her eyes, "Something like that."

"And is there any chance that we might all meet a horrible end and possibly not survive it?" Rinse continued.

"There is always that possibility, of course," Kachima answered, "But still..."

"Then I'm your girl!" Rinse declared, "Just get me out of here real fast...please?"

"What's the matter?" Silver asked her, glancing around in suspicion, "And where's your usual entourage of amorous well-wishers?"

A loud explosion rocked the air, and a moment later Rinse said, "Back that way, why do you ask?"

"Ah...good question," Silver said as she lifted an eyebrow.

"Okay, hang on," Ranko said as she felt the tingling start again, heralding another transfer, "Time for us to vamoose out of here one step ahead of the posse. I...oh hell!"

All four girls looked down as the asphalt beneath their feet melted away to become a watery surface, which same yielded to the force of gravity as they plunged right into a chlorinated pool without so much as time to yelp in startled protest.

"Eh?" a pair of voices reacted as their heads broke the surface of the water. Ranko spurted a mouth full of water before turning to see the ones who had spoken, and then she gasped, "Huh? Is that...you guys?"

"Well now," a dark haired girl mused as she waded at one end of the pool, currently pressed close to another dark haired girl who was leaning back against the asphalt railing, "What have we here? Dare I suggest that we are once again visited by our itinerate sisters from afar? And perhaps I might also suggest that you still need to work a bit on the aim of your landings, sweet Ranko-  
chan?"

"Well, hey, it isn't like I plan it this way or nothing," Ranko replied, amazed to find that she was still in her female form, "You and Yuan there still up and at it?"

"We never stop unless we have to," Yuan-Yen replied, then spotted the new face in the crowd and asked, "I don't know who you are, but something tells me I should be calling you my sister."

"Hmm..." Kachima mused, "The feeling is mutual to be certain, Sister. May I take it for granted that you both are well acquainted with my other companions."

"You could say this, yes," the first dark haired girl replied without fully turning around, "But for the sake of formal introductions, you may call me Watazashi, and this is Yuan-Yen, my one-true beloved and the better portion of my soul. I, of course, know you, Silver, Rin-chan, and Ranko...you seem surprised. Did you think I would be doing this in an unheated pool even in the middle of fall?"

"Oh," Ranko figured that the pool did feel pretty warm and was obviously of the right temperature not to trigger her Jusenkyo curse, even as she silently noted that the reason Watazashi had not turned around was that she was covering Yuan-  
Yen's upper body with her own, and neither one of them appeared to have a stitch on at the moment.

"Kuno mansion, huh?" Silver eyed the dark haired girl dubiously, "Never liked coming here on my world...I always feel like I'm stepping into a spider's web or something..."

"I don't believe we've had the privilege of meeting before," Watazashi smiled at Kachima, "But like Yuan says, I believe you two are related.

"Actually you both are," Kachima replied as she waded a bit nearer to the couple, "My mother is Nabiki and my father is Saotome Ranma. And you are...?"

"The daughter of Saotome Kodachi, of course," Watazashi mused, "And...please don't repeat that often-heard refrain of 'What, Kodachi?' I've grown exceeding tired of hearing that of late."

"Not to worry," Kachima replied, "I wasn't about to. In fact I'm rather fond of my aunt, who's married in all but name to my other Aunt, Kasumi."

"My mother...and Aunt Kasumi?" Watazashi blinked, "Now this I most assuredly am dying to hear..."

"You guys are so lucky," Rinse averred, "You've only got each other, while I've got a real pain keeping up with my girlfriends, never mind my fianc e..."

"Sounds like things haven't changed much for you," Yuan glanced around, "I was half expecting to see Tachi with you this time around."

"Yeah, well," Silver shrugged, "I think this time they're only taking those of us who share the same Pop. Some kind of big brouhaha is up and we're expected to drop everything we're doing to go save the Multiverse and all that."

"What, again?" Yuan-Yen blinked then added, "Well...alright, but next time we're charging you up the Ass..."

"Darling," Watazashi chided, then turned to glance back over her shoulder, "I suppose we could consider helping you out again, seeing as you are all family, Sisters."

"Call me Kachima," the brown haired girl smiled as she added the word, "Sisters."

"Price, huh?" Yuan-Yen grinned back, "So Mom married 'Zashi's Dad in your world, huh? I'll bet you've got stories to tell..."

"The feeling is mutual I am certain," Kachima smiled back.

"Look," Ranko sighed, "I'm really sorry to drop in and interrupt your fun once again, 'Zashi, but we've got a really bad emergency and I'm gathering up a posse..."

"To head them off at the pass?" Watazashi finally turned around and sighed, "At least allow us the time to get properly dressed for the occasion. It can be rather disturbing the way that pendant of yours can drag us around hither and yon without regards to the climate of some of the places which we visit."

"All right by me," Ranko glanced around, "Ah...is there someplace where we can dry our stuff off in a hurry?"

"Don't worry about that," Kachima said as she was already wading for the side-  
stairs leading out of the pool, "Once we are on dry ground I will take care of the excess moisture."

"Swell," Silver mused as she and the others followed her example, "Ah, don't mind me for asking, but just how many other guys are we going after?"

"I think about seven in all," Ranko replied, "Not counting me, I guess. Something about an Og-do-something or other..."

"Ogduod," Kachima replied as she stretched out her hands while the others finished climbing out of the pool, then with a wave of her fingers gathered up ions in the air and passed them over her body, drying herself out as a cloud of vapor flowed around her, leaving her silk clothing untouched in the process."

"Wow," a naked Yuan marveled as she and a fully nude Watazashi also stepped out of the pool, "Neat trick...how do you do that?"

"Magic of course," Kachima replied, then snapped her fingers, causing moisture to evaporate from the clothing and hair of her companions.

"Similarity and Contagion," Watazashi mused as she and her companion walked over to the adjoining mansion, "I've studied the theory, of course, but it would seem that you are adept enough to manage simple cantrips with great facility."

"It's a knack," Kachima replied as she and the others followed the naked pair into the mansion, "I can dry you off as well if you'd like to avoid dripping on the carpets."

"Not to worry," Watazashi said as she accepted a towel being offered to her by a man dressed up like a Ninja, "Thank you, Xandar-chan. Yoriko...I suggest silk pajamas for Yuan-chan and myself. Such attire does seem appropriate wear for many of the places that we are likely to visit."

A second Ninja-clad figure appeared, this time clearly a Kunoichi, who held up a matching set of silk pajamas in either hand, then knelt on one knee with head bowed as Watazashi and Yuan-Yen began dressing themselves without preamble.

"Swank place," Silver glanced around, "Does Tatewaki, your uncle, still live here..."

"I would hardly think that too appropriate," Watazashi smiled as she finished dressing herself with the towel firmly wrapped around her hair, even as Yuan-Yen was adjusting the wooden buttons on her own silk shirt, "Considering that my uncle and my father are not always on the best of terms they prefer to dwell in opposite ends of the mansion. Takane is currently away on a date, and the same is true of our parents, so we had the place pretty much to ourselves and..."

"Just did what came natural, huh?" Ranko folded her arms under her bosoms, "Look...I don't know how to put this, but this guy named Derek is the one really calling the shots here, not me, so when the pendant starts transferring us...I can't guarantee that it's gonna take all of us this time...I'm sorry."

Yuan-Yen paused in the act of drying off her hair to turn a questioning look their way, only it was Kachima who answered for her, "We don't know if we will be able to take the both of you with us to where we are going, and it might be too dangerous for you anyway since the aim is to gather up those who share the bloodline of the Saotome..."

"I'm practically a Saotome as it is," Yuan-Yen responded, then paused before adding, "By adoption."

"It is true," Watazashi said, "Yuan-Yen is my better half, and I intend to make her mine in a legal sense before too long. To merely suggest that the two of us be separated by as long as one hour is an unbearable concept, and I am afraid I cannot go with you if it means leaving her behind."

"Hey, no problem," Silver said sarcastically, "We'll just tell the bad guys to take a rain check..."

"Sister," Kachima chided, "We sympathize with you, truly, but the need is great and the crisis is desperate. Lord Derek deems that you have qualities that are essential to the success of our mission, so whether you wish it so or not, I fear that your involvement has already been mandated. Truly we are sorry if this is painful or inconvenient..."

"Inconvenient?" Yuan-Yen asked, "If you think I'm letting 'Zashi anywhere out of my sight, even surrounded by family, then you have another think coming...?"

"Are you kidding us?" Rinse asked, "Anybody who's got eyes can tell that the both of you are solid as an item. No way a little trip through time is gonna break the two of you up..."

"Yeah," Ranko added, "We've got at least three or four more stops along the way, and you think we're not gonna have to say the same thing to the other guys we run into? C'mon, 'Zashi, you know me better than that! This isn't about what we want or even what we'd like to do if we weren't all being dragged into this by higher powers, yadda, yadda..."

Yuan-Yen and Watazashi exchanged glances, then the former said, "She may be right...I hate to say this, 'Zashi, but..."

"Don't," Watazashi made a curt, dismissive gesture, "Where I go, you belong. That has always been the way between us, and I see no reason to start making exceptions now. That is the deal, take it or leave it. I will not leave without my Yuan-chan."

"Well..." Ranko started to say when the tingling sensation began again, "It may not be my call, but I sure wouldn't want to be the one to come between you..."

"It would appear that Lord Derek must agree with you on some level," Kachima remarked, glancing at Yuan before adding, "It would indeed appear that you are coming with us, my sister."

"Really?" Yuan-Yen glanced at herself with delight, then took Watazashi's hand and beamed brightly, "Coolness!"

"One in mind, body and spirit, forever," Watazashi agreed, clasping what had to her breast as her blue eyes warmly embraced those of her companion.

"Uh oh," Rinse murmured, "Here we go again..."

"Let's hope this time we wind up on someplace solid," Silver remarked, hearing the silent nods and murmured assent of her companions as they journeyed once more through time...and again found themselves...elsewhere...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Conventional Aberrations: shadowmane

Well, didn't quite get to all seven Saotomes this time around, but that would have doubled the length of this chapter, know what I mean? Suffice to say that the fun continues with Ranko and friends gathering up more allies while their counterparts in the Dark Citadel face down the forces of Karadon with the ultimate stakes being Existence itself. Be with us for the next exciting chapter in: "Crisis on Infinite Infinities," or, "The Secret Hentai Wars." Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	23. Chapter 23

RanCubed22

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and Others,  
including my fellow fanfic writers, Nicole Manders, Trella,  
Gregg Sharp and DB Sommers, who provided some of the characters and concepts that have appeared in this series, and to TH Tiger for his generous support and advice in the writing of this and many other projects)

Chapter Twenty-Two.

Crash go the Titans

Continuum # 87219654

Dark Citadel,  
(Pocket Limbo-Like Dimension)

Roll Call:

Team Alpha-Zero,  
Wing Gundam Training Unit

Akira Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Yuki (17) Pilot: Firebird Urika Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Konatsu (17) Pilot: Iron Chef Saber Kuno -Daughter of Shampoo and Kodachi (16) Pilot: Steel Serpent Trolla Galt -Zentraedi Clone-sister to Mireya (15) Pilot: Steelshark Dana Stirling -Daughter of Max and Mireya (10) Pilot: Sunstone

Akira gave a hearty curse as she felt the impact of the second wave crashing against the armor of her heavily beset Gundam Veritech. She tried to lash out at the energy-draining creatures but they leeched away at her armor's reserve power supply, causing joints to lock up as systems crashed and failed all over the board. All at once her Vernier engines flamed out, leaving her with no means of remaining airborne and only a half-kilometer's distance between herself and the surface of the planetoid.

There was nothing for her to do but cut all remaining systems and divert the flagging auxiliary power to the inertial dampening systems, the better to ride out the jolting impact that resulted when the crash finally did happen, and even then it jolted her with teeth-rattling effect as she felt the slap of her own momentum against her cockpit restraining harness. By some miracle she escaped serious injury, but even so it was barely possible to avoid passing out as the dampeners faltered and her remaining kinetic energy shook her violently, giving her a sense of what a peanut would feel like while still in its shell. She had no lights and no power for any of her on-system monitors to illuminate the resulting darkness, and in a fleeting sense of self-irony she found the analogy to a metal coffin all but impossible to escape. She had no way at all of knowing what was going on around her, or what effect her crash landing would have on unit cohesion.

Dana had been the first to detect her immanent peril and called out, "The LT's been hit badly! She's going down and fast!"

"AKIRA-CHAN!" came three simultaneous voices as Trolla, Saber and Urika all reacted as one, dropping their concerted efforts at defending their own flanks to immediately converge around the falling Gundam known as Firebird. With no real coordination between them the remaining members of Team Alpha-Zero formed a defensive ring around their fallen leader and fended off further attacks by the creatures while Dana scourged the outer hull of the Firebird to pick off the remaining creatures still attaching themselves to Akira's fighter. The crash, when it came, jolted the nerves of the other four women and all had a desperate sense of peril regarding the health and continued welfare of the one member of their unit that all four young girls considered the most essential.

"Is she still alive?" Troll asked anxiously.

"Difficult to say," Urika called back, "I'm picking up life signs in the cabin, but it's difficult to get a positive reading. The Gundanium is interfering with the sensors..."

"Power's dead on her bird, though," Saber noted grimly, "Even reserve batteries are drained and the Verniers can't ignite without that."

"We have to defend the Lieutenant," Dana said, "She's still alive, I know it! She can't protect herself like this..."

"Neither can we," Urika pointed out, "Doesn't mean we stop trying."

"I'm not abandoning her," Saber affirmed, "The rest of you can do whatever you like, but I'm staying with Akira."

"And since when do you have a monopoly on heroics?" Trolla challenged, "I'll make my stand behind my Lieutenant. Nothing else to do anyway, and it seems like a good day to die."

"I'd rather not do any dying if it's all the same to you," Urika replied, "But I won't back down or surrender Akira to these motherless creatures. I'm giving them everything I've got left, and I'm not going down easy!"

"I know what headquarters and my parents would say," Dana sighed, "But screw it, I'm not deserting you guys either. Let's make them know that they've been in a fight, Team Alpha-Zero!"

"HAI!" the other unit members said in chorus, then as one they stood their ground and prepared as the black wave of manta-like creatures formed in the air above them, preparing to strike at the heroic young test pilots in their experimental machines preparing to make their last stand against the inevitable onslaught.

Only something else suddenly took place in the space between them and the doom that hovered above them. A loud sound, sounding oddly like a cat, rang out as a black-and-gray shaped object appeared, looking oddly like a jumping jack or kid's top with crystal limbs extending in nine separate directions. The object then proceeded to emit energy bursts that were targeted towards the black wave, striking it with great force and dispersing them in all directions. Manta creatures burst into flame and dropped groundward as the creatures continued to rain like ashes all around them.

"What the heck is that?" Trolla instantly demanded.

"I don't know," Urika responded, "But it's attacking the enemy and not us...and making a pretty short work at them at that!"

"You think it might be on our side?" Saber asked, then instantly answered her own question, "No wait! It's nearly identical to that other thing that confronted us in the test zone! It's some kind of alien spaceship!"

"You're right," Dana said, "The marking are nearly identical, but the shape and internal make-up are an almost one hundred percent match for the one that was threatening us only a little while ago. It's power resources are incredible..."

"Yeah, no fooling," Trolla remarked, "I sure hope it is on our side...my batteries are almost dead and my reactor is on the point of critical shut-down."

"To say nothing of the fact that we've pretty much exhausted all of our ammo," Urika noted with fatalistic candor.

"Hey, don't look now, but there's people coming out from the sides!" Saber reported, "They look almost...human!"

Sure enough, four human shapes descended from the ship and landed on the ground near to where the four huge Veritechs stood poised together, then one with fiery red hair spoke into some manner of voice projection device and said, "ATTENTION, PILOTS OF YON VESSELS, WE ARE HERE TO LEND YOU ASSISTNACE! ARE ANY OF YOU HURT IN ANY SERIOUS MANNER?"

"Huh," Urika noted, "Sounds like standard Japanese..."

"Doesn't necessarily mean they're friendly," Saber remarked, "But at this point I'm willing to take a chance."

Urika didn't even wait around as she said, "Our leader is disabled, possibly hurt. Are any of you medically capable of rendering assistance?"

"I can do that," said one of the four womanly shapes, who seemed almost to teleport from the spot to appear above Akira's stricken Gundam, even as the redhead took a prodigious leap that carried her to her side and the blue haired one among them hovered protectively over them. Only the girl with purple hair seemed uncertain about what she should do to help out, so she trotted long to the side of the others, casting an appreciative glance at the four operational units before remarking, "Giant Robots...how original."

"Mobile suits would be the correct term, I believe," said the redhead, who was kneeling down and placing an object that looked like a stethoscope on the fall of the stricken Gundam, "Hmm...not too bad, damage is mainly superficial, but there's barely enough power to sustain life support. The pilot seems to be healthy, just a few bruises and possibly a dislocated shoulder."

"How the heck can you tell all that?" Urika called down from her Gundam, "What, do you have X-Ray vision or something?"

"Well," the redhead drawled with a faint smile, "Since you mention it...something like that..."

"Allow me," said the brown haired girl beside her, who was laying her hands against the hull of the Gundam, "I believe that I can supply what this device needs in terms of resources."

"Help yourself," the redhead said as she vaulted down to the side of the purple haired girl, then turned to watch as their brown-haired companion began to marshal her resources.

"What's she doing?" Saber asked in confusion.

"She seems to be...meditating," Trolla divined.

"Her name is Morisato Veil," came the calmly worded reply of the levitating blue-haired girl, "And if you wait patiently you will see a miracle that is about to happen."

"A miracle?" Dana repeated, then gasped as her instruments suddenly went wild, "WHAT...?"

Veil began to glow as the young Demi-Goddess (First Class) lifted her head and raised her hands towards the heavens then began chanting in an odd sing-song voice (whose musical quality was such that it caused the listeners to stop whatever they were doing and turn to watch in awed reverence) as the glow extended to cover not just Akira's Veritech but all of the others as well, all five Gundam robots turning as shiny as if newly created, even as instrument panels gave our readings that made no sense to the five pilots, and Akira herself reacted in bewilderment at discovering the resurrection of her own on-  
board systems.

"Winds of destiny that arise in flight,  
Heed the calling of these brave machines of battle!  
Hear my summons and give aid!  
Supply their needs that they may continue with their holy mission!"

"Wow," remarked Urika as she saw her systems come back online as the glow faded from around her and the rest of her Team's units, "What the heck did she do? Everything's back online but...these readings make no sense! This is crazy!"

"You're telling me?" Saber reacted, "According to my instruments I have full main and reserve power, and my Verniers are back on line. Full power is restored to all weapons, including ammo..."

"I've got a full compliment of Mini-rockets!" Trolla exclaimed, "But that's...utterly impossible! How...?"

Akira's Gundam got back to its feet as their unit leader acknowledged that her own system was fully back on line, and in a note of dull wonder she said, "What the heck just happened? My shoulder isn't aching any more, and I've got everything in the Green! What gives?"

"Don't ask us, LT," Dana replied, "As those guys, somehow they did it."

"You are well," Veil smiled as she gazed up at the astonished Akira, "That is good, because we will need your strength in the coming battle."

"Did I not say that she could work miracles?" Tenko smiled as she continued to hover around eye-level for the Gundams, "Veil-chan is one in a million..."

"Who the heck are you?" Akira asked before belated recognition kicked in, "Hey...aren't you that blue haired girl that interrupted us in the Test Zone?"

"You must be referring to my sister," Tenko smiled, "I am the Princess Tenko of Jurai, and the one to whom you are referring is called Ryeka. Have you seen her recently? I am trying to find her..."

"Lieutenant, watch out!" Dana called out, "I've got another cloud of Bandits clustering in sector Zero-Seven of position Mark."

"I see them," Trolla replied, "Don't these infernal creatures ever give up?"

"Brace yourselves!" Urika called out, "They're coming this way!"

Even as the five Gundams prepared to meet the renewed attack of the dark creatures, Tenko turned around and called out, "RYO-UKI! CLEAR THE WAY!"

A catlike growl acknowledged the commands of the ship's mistress before the transformed Cabbit-ship vacated that portion of the sky that it had been dominating until now. At once the black manta-creatures came raining down like a tidal wave of eternal blackness, but Tenko met this charge calmly, bringing her hands together and concentrating as a miniature star formed up between her hands, and then all at once the light congealed into the shape of a sword while her outer garb changed and her hair went from deep blue to almost silver.

"What the hell?" Trolla asked, "She's going to fight them with an energy sword? But..."

All at once Tenko launched herself forward to meet the onrush, and with blazing sword in both hands she sliced the air in a single powerful, fluid motion that was breathtaking in its perfection, and even more so as the entire sky seemed to fill with an intense blue-white light that forced all five pilots (and three ground-based onlookers) to flinch away lest they be snow-blinded. The light faded out after lingering for only a few seconds, but when it passed there was not a single, solitary black shape remaining, as if the sky had been wiped clean by an enormous eraser. The pilots remained stunned and speechless for a solid minute before hearing the purple haired girl on the ground remark, "You were saying?"

"Oh momma," Akira murmured so faintly that even the relay net barely picked it up and transferred it to the other pilot cabins.

"How...how did she do that?" Urika asked in tones a small child might use with a parent.

"Behold the power of Jurai, the sword of the Light Hawk," Veil smiled grandly, "And she calls me miraculous, my dear, sweet Tenko-chan."

"Eh?" Saber remarked, calling up a visual display of the four strangers before zeroing in on the one with purple hair, then exclaiming, "I don't believe it! She's an Amazon...like me!"

"Huh?" Lylac turned to regard the Gundam known as the Steel Serpent, "Like you? You mean...you're another one like me?"

"Hey, you know," Dana remarked, "Now that you mention it, I do see a resemblance, Saber..."

"There is no time for us to dwell upon such matters," Ekko, announced to the bewildered Veritech pilots, "We have less than five minutes to effect this operation. Therefore I ask that you steady yourselves, for it is now my turn to pull my weight in this mission."

"Better hold onto something quick!" Lylac called out, then stood with her feet braced wide as though she were preparing to leap to safety.

Ekko barely wasted any time scanning the ground before selecting a spot that fit her needs, then drew back her hand and summoned up her own internal power, driving her fist forward to strike at particular spot on the planetoid's surface. The force of that blow was not to be believed, for it instantly erupted in a shock-wave that shook the ground like a massive earth tremor, and then the ground split in two halves forming around the crater formed by that blow, opening up a fissure twenty meters wide and as deep as the eye could fathom.

"Teneka," Tenko called out, "Kihoshi, you're up!"

A crystal shard shot out from the top-like space ship and shot into the fissure, disappearing into the blackness like a spear hurled into Tartarus. Tenko continued to hover over this fissure then reported into a device located near her earlobe, "They're in! Package away, Aunt Sasami! Phase two of Grandmother's plans is in motion...!"

And at that precise moment, outside the energy sphere surrounding the asteroid, a silver-blue haired girl dressed in the robes of a princess lifted her head and said, "Acknowledged...very well done, Niece. Stand by for further instructions." She turned and smiled at her companion before saying, "Well, looks like Washu's come up with another winning strategy."

"I sure hope so," Kiyone replied, "The stakes we're riding this time are pretty high, even by our standards."

"Maybe so," Sasami mused as she surveyed the bridge of her ship, the Tsunami, "But we don't have any options for failure this time. Everything hangs on the next phase of our plan, and for that we need your daughter to carry her weight. Teneka will keep her safe as long as possible, but against those kinds of odds..."

"I know," Kiyone bowed her head grimly, "But we don't have any other choice, do we? It's all up to Kihoshi, all we can do is play our roles and hope nothing goes wrong. This whole operation depends on absolute split-second timing."

"I know," Sasami observed, "And speaking of which, shouldn't you be on your way to effect your part of the mission?"

"I'm ready when you are, Kid," Kiyone smiled back, "Just take me to the Blue Area on the Moon and I'll set up shop. You've already primed and unloaded the Cannon, I take it?"

"Of course," Sasami chuckled, "You were expecting me to be more like Mihoshi and wait to the last minute?"

"I guess not," Kiyone chuckled, "Well, good luck on your end...Princess Tsunami."

"And you too, Kiyone," Sasami replied, "Good shooting."

"Hey, you know me, I never miss a target," Kiyone nodded to the planetoid, "And that's a pretty big target to miss...assuming my kid makes the opening we need. We'll only get one shot, and if we fail...well...we won't even be around to know it happened."

"I'll do my best to keep them busy down there," Sasami replied, "Besides, I'm not known as the most powerful ship in the whole Juraian fleet for nothing."

"Yeah, I've been wondering how much you pay them to call you that," Kiyone mused before Sasami teleported her down to the Blue Area of the Moon, the one habitable area on the whole of Luna.

There Kiyone found what she knew would be awaiting her, the object she dreaded more than any other and had hoped never again to be called upon to pilot. It was large and red on the outside, deceptively simple looking to a casual observer, but contained within its frame was some of the most elaborate and diabolical machinery ever conceived by the mind of the greatest Mad Scientific Genius in the Galaxy, if not the Universe itself, one of her lesser projects that off-handedly had the potential to be able to destroy a thousand planetary systems with only a casual shot.

The Dimensional Cannon...Washu's ultimate doomsday weapon.

And knowing full well what this device could do, the normally stoical Kiyone felt a shudder pass through her body, to be instantly mastered as she walked up to the command console and allowed it to scan her DNA and retinal code, acknowledging her as its rightful mistress, or Angel of Death, a title Kiyone dreaded yet knew to be all too fitting...

The Dragon was easily fifty meters long with a snake-like body that weighed in close to around twenty metric tons. Its wingspan (for it had wings that it could use like extra limbs for climbing through tunnels) was better than half again as great as its length and its head was larger than a truck with teeth that could bite through steel like it was putty. It was muscular and sinuous, a highly efficient killing machine designed like a sleek living engine of relentless destruction and fueled by a rage that was the equal in heat to a small fusion generator.

All of which meant nothing as the creature was thrown hard against a cliff-wall with a force that staggered it to near-unconsciousness. It slumped to the floor of the pit like the proverbial rag doll and took a moment to recover, groaning faintly at the unbelievable punishment that it had been receiving until that moment.

"Aw come on," Herb heard that annoyingly familiar voice call out, "Is that all you've got? I was expecting more of a workout here, Herb! What would your Musk friends think if they could see you now? You really must've gotten soft from all that heavy sleeping..."

**SAOTOME...** the Dragon telepathed, **YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS INDIGNITY...*

"Yeah, yeah," Ranma waved the point dismissively, "I'm sure you're all banged up about the fact that I'm kicking your ass, but look at it from my side...I need a good workout to get myself in shape for the real fight, and so far I haven't even been breaking a sweat here!"

Herb came alive, uncoiling his massive body with a speed that defied easy description, attempting to crush down on top of the taunting insect that was getting on his nerves so frequently of late, only to find that Ranma had anticipated his maneuver and somehow managed to turn it around so that Herb's muzzle went plowing face-first into the ground and was partially buried there up to the level of his eyeballs.

"See what I mean?" Ranma said, "Now that was weak, even for you, Guy."

**HOW DARE YOU!** Herb was enraged and sought to free himself , but all he did was set up an easy target as Ranma's foot lashed out and sent the Dragon smashing back into the wall, to be buried under a near-avalanche as rocks the size of buildings came crashing down all around them.

"You gotta stop being so predictable," Ranma huffed, "I ain't the same weakling you seem to still think I am. I could kick your all around all day if I didn't have more important stuff to worry about."

**SAOTOME...YOU BASTARD!** Herb telepathed weakly.

"Oh, now hey," Ranma smiled, "Gee thanks, what a nice thing to say! I appreciate you trying to cheer me up and everything, I mean really! Gee, I wish it could be like that...but...unfortunately..."

The Dragon broke free from the stones, only to find Ranma in his face looking him eye-to-eye and murmuring softly, "The paternity tests came in...and it turns out he really was my father."

Herb found himself staring into the blue eyes of his tiny adversary and feeling a peculiar sensation traveling down his spine as he saw reflected in those mirror depths the ageless agony and suffering of many a generation, as though it were not truly a man that he looked upon but rather a force of Doom and Destruction infinitely more terrible than anything the transformed Musk Prince could well remember having encountered. And-upon seeing this-Herb finally recognized the strange, almost unfamiliar and forgotten emotion that currently chilled his blood like icewater.

Fear.

Not of his own mortality, nor even of the pain that he had so far suffered at the hands of his unbelievably powerful opponent. It was fear of an entirely different order, as though Herb were witnessing the embodiment of the end of everything, the twilight of the very heavens, and it made that part of his soul that was still partially human recoil in ultimate horror.

**WHAT-?** the Dragon began hesitantly, **WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU? YOU ARE NOT THE SAOTOME THAT I REMEMBER...**

"Good of you to finally notice," Ranma smiled without humor, "I am the Death of hope, the end of all life, the doom of your entire race, both Musk and Dragon. I am older than the stars, more inevitable than sorrow, I see nations rise and fall, and I am as eternal as the sands of the desert. What you see before you is merely the shell that I wear as a vessel for my power...I am Created Shiva the Destroyer, the Dead White Tiger Made whole by the Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu. Who is it who stands before me with the soul of a mere man and the body of an ancient?"

**YOU-** recognition filled Herb's entire being with the dread a small lizard might feel in the path of an oncoming giant, **BUT-HOW? AND WHERE IS SAOTOME?"

"Hey, I'm here too," the man before the Dragon continued smiling, "Don't mind Shiva, he's merely the house guest, I'm the landlord. You talk to him through me, not the other way around."

**YOU...?** Herb momentarily faltered, **BUT...HOW CAME YOU TO BE ALLIED WITH SUCH A PRESENCE?**

"Well, it's kind of a long story, really," Ranma shrugged, "Let's just say he made me an offer I couldn't refuse and we wound up forming an alliance. Most of the time I'm barely even aware that he's in me, but at times like these, when I get to cut loose and really show what I'm made of, he sometimes comes surging forward to take part in the fun, and since his power is virtually infinite...well...you can pretty much guess how it is."

**BUT THE PRICE ONE MUST PAY...TO BECOME THE SERVANT OF SUCH A POWER...**

"Ain't nothing I ain't willing to pay," Ranma sniffed, "There'll be a collection at the end, but so what? I ain't planning to die anytime soon, and while I'm here I get to stomp on the really bad guys who are running loose causing problems for other people. You don't really fall under that category...all you ever really wanted was to rule China, and frankly you could probably do a better job of it than the current guys in power. My beef ain't with you, never was, probably never really will be. You took yourself out of the picture by trying to get rid of your curse, and as such you only half qualify as human anymore. My grief is with guys who plan things like genocide and mass murder for a hobby."

Herb was silent for a long instant before he telepathically spoke again, **WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU THAT YOU WOULD ACCEPT SUCH A DEVIL'S BARGAIN? THE SAOTOME RANMA THAT I KNEW WAS MANY THINGS, MOST OF THEM QUITE ANNOYING, BUT NEVER SO FATALISTIC..."

"Life happens," Ranma sighed, "I married the girl I thought would love me forever, but forever ain't what it used to be, so now I get by and try to make the best of what's left of my crummy existence. Lucky me I found a better life with a girl who really does seem to care about me, and I've got people I care enough about to protect, so what more do you want to know?"

Again that silence hung over everything, and then at last Herb replied, **TRULY YOU ARE NOT THE RANMA THAT I KNEW, AND YET I FEEL THE SUFFERING YOU HAVE ENDURED WEIGHING UPON YOU LIKE A SHADOW. ANY VENGEANCE THAT I COULD HAVE WISHED UPON YOU HAS BEEN VISITED MANY TIMES, AND AS SUCH FURTHER BATTLE BETWEEN US CAN HAVE NO MEANING.**

"Glad you're willing to see it that way," Ranma nodded, "Now...do you wanna hear the full story about what's going on here? It ain't a pretty picture, and I definitely think you won't like the implications."

Very slowly the dragon nodded his massive head and Prince Herb replied, **I WILL HEAR YOUR WORDS NOW...SAOTOME...**

Roll Call:

Ryeka Masaki -Daughter of Ayeka and Ryoko, Princess of the Jurai Ayane Tofu -Daughter of Kasumi and Korato, a Saiyajin Warrior Ryo-Aki -Daughter of Ryo-Oki and Ken-Oki, a Cabbit (living Spaceship)

Ryeka heard the ringing of bells in her head as she was smashed back into the wall by the massive man-brute attempting to choke her into submission. The creature was part bull, part man and had the odd combination of bat-wings and tentacles sprouting from its back, and it was unbelievably powerful, obviously a trained fighter in every important sense and having enough raw might to physically overwhelm her. She could not get a purchase to break free from its grip and the pressure being applied to her neck threatened to pop her head loose from her shoulders if it got any more intense. On the whole it was not looking very good from her perspective.

Ayane was hardly faring any better, finding it nearly impossible to get near to her opponent, who seemed to anticipate her every move before it could be executed. He was quick and powerful, and something about his aura turned aside her best offensives so that even an energy attack would be deflected to one side. Ayane did not dare to summon up even greater power levels while inside the confines of the corridor that they were in else she might literally bring the house down and/or incinerate her companion. As fast as she herself could move, she had nearly been tagged by a dozen lethal strokes of that searingly intense light beam that he was wielding like a bokken. She knew by now that it would only take one casual misstep on her part and she might well lose an eye, a limb, or something even more important! There was no slacking up against this guy, and unless she came up with a more effective strategy soon she'd be shishkabobed Saiyajin!

(I can't let him get too close to me with that sword), Ayane grimly decided, (Sensei Ranma always said that guys who rely on weapons have a weak spot, but so far I can't detect it).

She backed away another foot, yielding ground to her foe in the hopes that he might expose himself to a counter-attack, but in doing so she brought the other antagonist into her peripheral vision, which almost distracted her as the sight of squirming tentacles made her wince like a squeamish schoolgirl. That was all it took to bring down the wrath of this warped version of her Uncle Kuno, and only by ducking low and darting to the side could Ayane avoid falling victim to the energy blade, though it gave her an idea to try one desperate tactic that had the chance of turning things back to her advantage.

Ryeka's disgust level escalated when she began to feel those tentacles reaching out to play against her skin, something that her foe was electing to do once satisfied that she was entirely at his mercy. Seeing no need to hasten the inevitable, it was clearly electing to have fun at her expense, which would have made Ryeka barf up her cookies had she been able, memories of another encounter with a tentacle-waving demon being too fresh in her memories to avoid the association.

But just then Ayane reached out a hand and snagged one of the tentacles, then hastily whipped it around and used it to block the thrust of Darth Kuno's Light Saber. The immediate result was that flesh met a fiery end as the blade cut right through the tentacle, sending a jolt of stabbing pain into the back of the massive man-brute as Pantsaru Taro reacted with a howl that threatened to shake the roof down all around them. Without thinking the brute let go of Ryeka and whirled upon his nominal ally, lashing out with a back-fist that missed its target entirely but forced Darth Kuno to dart away to avoid having to duel with his fellow Dark Servant.

That gave Ayane the chance to pull Ryeka away from the wall, then huddle together a short distance away as the half-Juraian Fusion child coughed and spat to clear her throat, which was reddened from the near-collapse of her windpipe.

"Are you okay?" Ayane asked her.

"Oh...sure..." Ryeka responded in a heavily roughened voice, "Never better! Now I know...what the cork on a champagne bottle...must feel like..."

"Sorry I couldn't get to you sooner," Ayane replied, "I was...kind of busy..."

"So I gathered," Ryeka straightened up and shook her head to clear it, causing her long blue mane of hair to cascade around her back, "That guy's toast...soon as I get my wind back..."

Ayane noticed that Darth Kuno was trying to reason with the man-brute to dissuade his wrath on their true enemies, and as she did so a thought suddenly occurred to her and she smiled, "Wanna trade partners?"

"Huh?" Ryeka looked at her, then at the two bad guys, and then she smiled, "Hey...yeah...why not? That big guy looks more about your speed..."

"And you're pretty good with a sword," Ayane said, "Think you can teach me that trick some time."

"You mean this?" Ryeka smiled as she brought her hands together and caused a ball of energy to form, which then she stretched out to form a ruby beam one meter in length.

"Yeah...neat," Ayane was very impressed, but then she looked up again and said, "Uh oh...don't look now, but here they come!"

"And here they go!" Ryeka snarled, launching herself at Darth Kuno before the man-brute was able to reach out a hand to snag her.

Ayane smiled as she remembered her sports training in Full Body Contact football, and without the least hesitation she plunged forward and grappled the big guy in both arms, hurtling the creature into a wall with bone-shattering force that created a Minotaur-shaped impression in the stone. Taro struggled against raw strength that vastly exceeded his own by a considerable factor and realized suddenly that he had bit off more than he had been prepared to chew, which did not in the least bit discourage a gleeful Ayane.

"Yeah!" she cried, "Now this is more LIKE IT!"

Such were not the sentiments of Dark Kuno, who found the girl with the energy blade more of a handful than he had been prepared to meet. She was fast and agile, and-unlike himself-she could fly, which greatly assisted her ability to find leverage for her thrusts. The skill she displayed was exceeded only by the savagery of her attacks as blow after blow was rained down upon his defenses, driving Kuno to his knees at one point as the fury of her blade exceeded his own by a considerable measure!

All it took for him was to grow careless as his ability to anticipate her moves was not the equal to his speed in countering her Juraian-born attack style. Her offensive yielded a slight opening, and with instinctive surity she plunged in with her blade, encountering Kuno's wrist and easily severing through bone, tissue and muscle. The shock of dismemberment had barely registered on Kuno's brain before he felt the impact of her fist on his unprotected face, picking him up and hurtling him with great force down the corridor, where he vanished off in the distance with only the slightly meaty sound of impact to tell the tale of his rude landing.

"Heh," Ryeka sniffed, "He wasn't so tough after all!" The she noticed his discarded Light Saber and picked it up to examine it, turned it around a few times then gave it a toss over her shoulder, "Cheap Corellian Manufacture, it figures..."

Unseen by her, however, the Saber only clattered once upon the floor before an invisible force reached out to snag it, and then it was drawn back down the corridor in the direction in which Darth Kuno had vanished.

Ryeka'a attention was suddenly drawn to the side as a heavy body hit the floor, and with only a mild hint of surprise she took note of the black-and-blue form of the fallen Minotaur-like Taro, who clearly had the aspect of one who had lost an argument with a meat grinder. Ryeka smiled as she turned a glance Ayane's way and said, "Had fun?"

"You bet!" Ayane flashed a fist, "It's good to really cut loose every now and then against an opponent who you know deserves what's coming to him."

"Really?" Ryeka blinked in surprise, "I was just gonna say the exact same thing. Weird that."

"Huh, you think so?" Ayane asked.

"Ah, never mind," Ryeka sniffed, "Introspecting stuff just ain't my bag. What say we find out what these two clowns were set here to play security guard against, huh?"

"Sounds good to me," Ayane tossed her head and flexed her muscular shoulders, "By the way, you did awesome with that sword guy. I've never seen moves like those before..."

"Aw, it's nothing," Ryeka found herself feeling oddly modest for some reason as the unexpected praise brought color to her cheeks (and how grateful she was that the light was too dim in the corridor for her companion to notice!), "My Dad and great Granddad are two of the best swordsmen around, and they made sure me and my Sibs all knew how to handle a blade before we could crawl. Besides, those were some pretty good moves of your own there...this guy was lunch meat to you."

"Gee, thanks," Ayane smiled back rather awkwardly, and for a moment they just stood there admiring one another, then the larger girl said, "Er...guess we'd better be moving on then..."

"Yeah," Ryeka agreed, "Sounds like a game plan.

"Ah...on question," Ayane hesitated, "Which direction should we go? I kinda got turned around during that fight...several times over."

"Meow!" a voice helpfully supplied, startling both girls as hey turned to see the furry little creature known as Ryo-Aki smiling up at them in a cheerful manner."

"Oh, there you are," Ryeka hunkered down to bring her face closer to the little cabbit, "I was wondering where you ran off to during that fight. No, I don't blame you at all...fighting's more my cup of tea anyway, and...what's that? You found something? And that's not all? Your sister's also here? You mean you made contact with Ryo-Uki?"

"You can understand her?" Ayane asked.

"Oh sure," Ryeka replied, "We're mind-linked after all. She a Cabbit, a kind of living spaceship who can change into this cute, furry little creature who's just so adorable when she's begging for a carrot."

"A carrot?" Ayane replied, "You feed carrots to a spaceship?"

"Sure do," Ryeka grinned as said cabbit leaped onto her shoulder and nestled her cheek, "Only type of ship in the universe that flies on the stuff. We have a whole carrot patch in the back of my Dad's house just to keep Ryo-Uki and her sisters fed and happy. She's really a little glutton for the stuff and-what? What's that? You mean...Tenko's here with the others? That's great! Now we can really throw a party!"

"Must be nice having a pet who can do useful stuff like that," Ayane remarked.

"Yeah, well, you've got talking cats and dogs on your world," Ryeka sad, "That seems...kinda weird to me..."

"Really?" Ayane asked, "Why is-oh!" she started as Ryo-Uki vaulted from Ryeka's shoulders onto her own and began mewing with affection.

"Well, what do you know?" Ryeka smirked, "She likes you, and that's a pretty good thing in my opinion. Ryo-Uki's usually a better judge of character...even better than me..."

"No fooling?" Ayane carefully scratched the little creature between the ears, earning a heartfelt mew of approval."

"Well," Ryeka said reluctantly, "She says we ought to be headed in that direction, she's pretty insistent about it, so I guess that's where we're headed."

"Sounds good to me," Ayane replied, and then the two of them fell into another awkward silence, staring at one another while Ryo-Uki mewed in an inquiring manner.

There was some further hesitation as the two seemed to have trouble deciding which should go first down the passage, but in the end they chose to walk side-  
by-side, keeping one eye out over their shoulders while surruptitiously admiring one another's profiles. It was odd the stuff you could notice about the person next to you when you were only half trying, and with the heightened awareness and excitement a fight always brought over the both of them there was time enough to reflect that the scenery was very nice close to hand...or at least a lot nicer to look at than their immediate surroundings, which was not saying much, but had the general principle all the same as Saiyajin and Juraian followed the mental lead of a cabbit to the ends of a long corridor...where yet more surprises awaited...

Roll Call:

Ryoma Saotome -Son of Ukyo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Inaho and Mosquiton the Vampire, 1/8th Vampyr Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Shampoo and Konatsu, Mage/Wicca in training Tachi Kuno -Son of Nabiki and Tatewaki, Nampo Kendo Ryu Efreet Mizuhara -Adopted daughter of Ifurita and Makoto, Demon-Goddess Minos Tarot -Son of Kasumi and Pantsaru, Shotokan Ryu Wanda Kenshiro -Daughter of Ranma and Aila, Fist of the North Star Onnama Saotome -Daughter of Tatewaki and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Touga Kuno -Son of (?) and Tatewaki, Daimyo, Kendo Master Ryonosuke Senzenen -Son of (?) and Mikado Senzenen, Family Retainer Xandar Kurunei -Son of Kaori and Sasuke, House Ninja Yoriko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and (?), House Ninja Minx Tendo -Daughter of Akane and a Wood Sprite, Changeling Ninja

The blast of stone and avalanche of rocks came crashing down upon the party, but before it could strike a Key-staff was raised to their defense and with a rapid series of explosive blasts lashed out at the rocks and boulders while a wind kicked up from behind them to intercept and deflect the smaller pieces. In seconds the tide of crushing granite was quite literally blown away, leaving Efreet standing in its midst with a smoking tool in her hands while everyone else turned wide-eyed glances in her direction.

It was Tachi who broke the impasse by saying, "Nice shooting."

"Thanks," Efreet smiled cheerfully, turning to Carmine and adding, "You see? I can control my blasts when I have to..."

"Watch out!" Tarot cried out in warning as a figure suddenly moved into their midst and sent the android flying with a powerful back-hand.

"Efreet!" Tachi cried as he drew his bokken, only to see the thing demolished into splinters. Steel-hard fingers passed within inches of his face before a hand clamped over the arm to which they were attached and halted its forward progress.

"Well now," Ryo Muhoshin marveled as he turned a surprised look in Wanda's direction, "You actually caught me. And here I thought you lambs would be ripe for the slaughter."

"Who are you?" Wanda demanded, not leaving up on the pressure.

"I'll tell you who he is," Ryonosuke growled as he rose from the fallen bodies of the two Ninja in service to Lord Touga, "He's a dead man, that is what he is. The wounds he has inflicted on my people can only be the worth of one truly savage and barbaric..."

"Flattery will get you no where, Samurai-guy," and with that the man struck the floor with his umbrella, shattering the stone once again in all directions. Even Wanda was forced to release him in order to deflect the debris, and by the time their vision cleared their enemy was no longer among them but poised once again on yet another stony outcrop.

"Before we begin with the pleasantries," the misshapen man with the oddly glassy eyes remarked, "Are there, by any chance, any Hibikis among you? You wouldn't happen to have one or two of his offspring in the gene pool of your party?"

"No," Ryoma said, "Why?"

"A pity," the man's shoulders slumped, "Killing Hibikis is my specialty, but I suppose I can make do with a Saotome or two, possibly even a Tendo or a Kuno. I'm equal opportunity slay-guy, and I love my work of exterminating you rodents."

"Be careful," Tarot cautioned, "He is more and less than what he seems...I sense no true life aura, only a death aura. I believe he is a Revenant, one who is undead, and somehow empowered by that token imbedded in his chest."

"Smart girl," the Revenant in question responded, "I am Ryo Muhoshin, your executioner, and I can see that we're going to have a lot of fun together arranging your demise. I can think of all sorts of ways to dispose of a cute girl like you, some...even more pleasant than others."

"Disgusting," Carmine held her nose, "You smell of decay...you're nothing but a rotting hunk of meat held together by necromantic spells!"

"Now is that a nice thing to say?" Ryo Muhoshin pouted, "Well, since it takes one to know one, I guess you'll have to get the stake first. Too bad, a nice blood-sucking Vamp girl like you ought to know better than to go making an Ash out of herself, but then again, group slaughters are another one of my specialties. Time for me to get creative!"

"Time for you to take a permanent nap!" Minos snarled, charging forward.

"NO!" Wanda cried, and suddenly she was between the large boy and the Thing calling itself Muhoshin, even as the latter charged forward, aiming his umbrella at her unprotected backside.

Too fast for anyone else to react to, Wanda turned to meet the charge, only to receive the blunt end of the umbrella, which stove into her stomach and doubled her over. A quick move by Muhoshin drove the giant blonde into the dirt with a sickening crunching sound as his heel found her spine and severed her vertebrae. Minos saw this but was too slow to react and instead found Muhoshin's hand smashing palm-first into his chest, creating an unexpectedly explosive reaction that tore the large boy's body to shreds as it exploded in all directions.

"NO!" Ryoma cried as he swung his baker's peel at Muhoshin, only to have the thing twisted out of his hands as the tip of one finger converted the metal into tinfoil. With a rapid spinning heel-kick Muhoshin drove the pig-tailed boy into a wall with sufficient impact to half bury him under another tide of rocks. Carmine saw this and surged forward, going berserk in an instant, but true to his word, Muhoshin was ready for her and drove the tips of his fingers clean through her chest then out again, holding up her still beating heart in one hand before he held it up before her eyes and squeezed it.

Carmine collapsed into ashes with hardly a gurgle of sound to mark her passage.

"BASTARD!" Tarot cried, her hands blazing with energy as she wove a complicated spell in the air, only to find Muhoshin was on her before the spell could be completed. One palm-thrust was all it took to knock the wind out of her sails, and then the Revenant slashed down with the tips of his fingers and disemboweled her in one fluid motion, then whirled about and backhanded Tachi, knocking the handsome boy's head clean off his shoulders in one easy motion.

"TACHI!" Efreet cried out, making the mistake of announcing her attack as she drove forward with her key-staff, only to have it taken away from her as she was sent flying into a wall with such force that her artificial body was shattered internally and collapsed to the floor like a puppet without its strings.

Next to fall was Ryonosuke, who tried to backstab Muhoshin, only to have his head literally handed to him in the next second. That left only Onnama and Touga still standing, the former petrified with astonishment and fear, the later towering with outrage as he drew steel and cried, "YOU HAVE NOT WON YET, VILLAIN!"

"Oh, but I beg to differ!" Muhoshin smiled as he thrust forward with his umbrella, catching the katana and turning it to the side, which left the Daimyo vulnerable and exposed to a hand that came up to within an inch of his face...then froze there as though time itself had hit the pause button.

There was a shimmering in the air and suddenly everything changed. The room was the same but no one had died yet, and Wanda was standing there with a hand over Muhoshin's forehead. The Revenant stood motionless while everyone else glanced around in astonishment upon finding themselves still alive and all in an intact condition. Onnama shook herself out of her daze and was the first to break the silence.

"Okay...WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?"

"Forgive me, Sister," Wanda replied, "What you have just experienced is no simple illusion. I have used my skills to halt this villain's energy patterns so that I could examine his thought processes. I had no idea that we would all be experiencing such intense emotional and psychic repercussions. It is almost as if we have had a glimpse into the fetid swamp that is his mind and have seen what he intends for us if we were to fight him in any conventional manner."

"You mean...none of that was real?" Ryoma gasped.

"Sure felt real to me!" Carmine swore, "I could actually feel like somebody was ripping my heart out!"

"Yes," Tarot held her hands over her abdomen with an unusual pallor to her features, "That was most definitely...a very disturbing experience."

"You ain't kidding," Minos sniffed, "Is this guy really that powerful? It was like we were just toys to him..."

"In effect that is what we are," Wanda replied, "This is not a man as we understand the term...he is...a creature of dark sorcery, the foulest arts imaginable. He's held together by an energy field that originates with that pendant that is buried partially into his breast, quite insane as we understand the term, and yet...somehow it allows him to control probabilities. He can alter reality at will, bent time and space to suit his needs, speed up and increase both his strength and reaction time, even turn our own weapons against us. Truly a hideous creature, and one to be dreaded."

"I see," Touga nodded, "Good thinking on your part, dear Sister...but what is to be done with him now?"

"Isn't it obvious, my Lord?" Ryonosuke asked, "Such a thing should not be allowed to exist..."

"Agreed," Wanda replied, "But destroying him may be something of a problem...at least so long as he draws power from that locket. I am holding him still for now, but if I divert my energies to try and remove it then he will be free to attack us, and we have all just seen what that could lead to."

"What alerted you to his potential for danger?" Tarot asked.

"I recognized the wounds on our fallen comrades," Wanda replied, "They are not injuries such as my Ryu would teach, but they consistent with the deadly arts of the Shattered Fist. It is said that they can cause flesh to explode at a touch, rather more violently than my own school's method of killing. The fact that he left them both alive means that he is not only an expert in such a system but also a determined sadist, one who enjoys inflicting pain and suffering in others."

"Then I vote we bury the sucker in quick lime," Efreet announced as she limped over to join them.

"Are you all right?" Tachi asked.

"I'm just fine," Efreet assured him, "Operational to within eighty-nine percent of peak efficiency...but I twisted my leg on the landing. It'll take me a few minutes to repair the ligaments, but I should be back to normal in no time."

"Thanks heavens for that, Honey," Carmine sighed, then glared at the motionless Muhoshin, "YOU MOTHERLESS SON OF A BITCH!"

She punched her fist at his unprotected chest, intending to return the favor to him that she had experienced in her vision, but instead her hand met and was turned away by a reddish flash of energy that flared up to protect him.

"It's as I feared," Wanda frowned, "The pendant is protecting him from conventional harm. Only I have the means and the skill of removing it, and that I dare not do for the reasons I have already mentioned.

"Ow!" Carmine shook her hand, "You might've told me that before...!"

To her surprise a pair of gentle hands caressed her wounded fist between their fingers. Carmine turned around and found Tarot was gazing into her eyes while plying her fingers over bruised flesh and humming slightly, and after a moment the throbbing gradually subsided.

"You act without thinking things through," Tarot remarked, "But then again, that is but one of the features that I find so attractive about you." And with that she kissed the hand of her nominal rival, leaving Carmine to stare at her in utter amazement.

"So...what are we gonna do with this creep?" Onnama asked.

"There is only one thing that we can do," Wanda replied, "I will fight him alone and defeat him using the Fist of the Northstar."

"What?" Minos protested, "Are you crazy? Didn't you just say he can turn stuff against us?"

"We have no choice," Wanda replied, "I am the only one who can face him as an equal, the only one who has any idea of what she is up against. If you stay you will be both a distraction and a source of potential peril. He could use any one of you as a leverage against me. I will give this monster no more victims to sate his foul appetites, I will destroy him utterly so that no one can ever remake him and bury his evil forever."

"You speak with honor and wisdom, Sister," Touga turned to Ryoma, "I suggest we do as she demands of us. We will take our fallen people and leave these corridors to those who are best suited to do battle."

"I don't like it, but what you both say makes sense," Ryoma grimaced, "It's not that I couldn't take him myself, but if this guy was posted here, then it could mean he's protecting something...something that somebody doesn't want us to get close to. I'm for checking that out, THEN stomping on the bad guys."

"Works for me," Onnama shrugged, "If the big lady thinks she can handle the creep, then I won't be the one to stop her.

"I have to agree with the both of you," Tachi turned to Wanda and said, "You take care of yourself, Kenshiro."

"And you look after your own...cousin," Wanda added the latter part with a wisp of a smile on her lovely features.

"My lord," Ryonosuke spoke up, "Whereas I agree with your plans, still I must protest that Xandar and Yoriko are in no condition to be moved. Their injuries are critical, and there may be internal bleeding."

"Not to worry on that score," Tarot snapped her fingers, "Now when you have a witch working with you as an ally. Observe."

Sure enough the two fallen Ninja rose up off of the floor and hovered in the air as the Sorceress made another hand-gesture.

"How fortunate we are that your skills are exceeded only by your beauty," Touga remarked, "I will be forever in your debt if you can spare the lives of these, two of my closest friends and childhood companions."

"I may be able to work a few more spells that can save their lives," Tarot replied, "But actual healing isn't truly my specialty. Perhaps we will find someone else who can perform what is necessary, but for now you have my word that I will do all that is within my power to keep them still among the living."

Wanda noticed Minos hesitating and said, "You had better join the others, I'd worry more for you than for myself..."

"I don't wanna leave you," Minos glowered, "You might need help. This guy ain't normal, and he don't seem to care who he kills, he just likes hurting people."

"But that is precisely why I must face him," Wanda replied, "The Fist of the Northstar was intended to always protect the weak and innocent from such monsters. He is the embodiment of all that I loathe, and I will now allow him to kill again. This is my sacred trust...my duty."

Minos still did not want to leave her side, but Ryoma just turned about and said, "Do whatever you like, big guy, but without her backing us up we might run into something that could use a little muscle. I ain't saying we'll need ya or anything, but if we run into another clown like him..."

"I'm going," Minos growled, "Damn you, Saotome, you always know what buttons to push..."

"It's all part of the Anything Goes system," Ryoma replied, "Nobody says you have to like it."

"Thank you, Brother," Wanda said gratefully, then waited until the entire party had cleared the chamber before stepping back and withdrawing her hand, allowing Muhoshin to blink his eyes and glance around with a much-surprised expression.

"W-Where did everybody go?" the Revenant snarled, "Dammit! I wanted to have some fun! No fair!"

"Here is all the fun you will ever meet in this world, Monster," Wanda said as she struck a defensive pose, "From now on I am your only opponent."

"Oh yeah?" Muhoshin looked the big woman up and down with a leer, "They must grow them awfully big where you come from. Well, fair enough to me, the bigger they are the harder they fall and all that..."

Wanda concentrated her energies, sensing that the man's first attack would be a dimensional brocade assault, a very sophisticated form of mental and emotional technique that would attempt to come at her from several different levels at once, only backed by the power of his dimension-altering pendant, which would make him a truly dangerous opponent. Nonetheless she was calm as she readied herself to make the appropriate counter, unaware that eyes were gazing down at her from the shadows of one corner, eyes of concern mixed with protectiveness and compassion.

"You no worry, Big Stuff," this figure murmured aloud, "Minx take care of you, no let nasty bad smelling dead boy do harm, you see..."

Whether Wanda would have been reassured or alarmed by this or not could hardly be fathomed, but the next moment she was too much engaged in battle to give heed to such ominous tidings. The battle royal was engaged, Fist of the Northstar versus Shattered Fist, and the consequences of defeat or victory would spell either the end or the beginning for the Cosmos. Life and death itself were at play, and woe betide the one who yielded to the other, for the price of defeat was extinction while the victor would go on to forge a new world in their own image...for good or ill no mortal mind could answer...

Continued.

Crisis/Climax/Comments/Fragmentation: shadowmane

Sorry if I alarmed anyone with that last scene, I felt it necessary to let people know what the stakes were without actually killing off the main attraction. The gang converges at the heart of Karadon's lair while Ranko continues to gather her posse...and what does Washu have in store that could possibly save the day for our heroes? For answer to these and other lingering questions, tune in for: "Converging Destinies," or "Tails a'Dragon..." Be there!

X

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	24. Chapter 24

RanCubed23

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and Others,  
including my fellow fanfic writers, Nicole Manders, Trella,  
Gregg Sharp and DB Sommers, who provided some of the characters and concepts that have appeared in this series, and to TH Tiger for his generous support and advice in the writing of this and many other projects)

Chapter Twenty-Three.

Continuum # 87219654

Blue Area, Luna

His name, for lack of anything better to call him, was Lord Derek Loffin, Lord of the Phoenix Keep with a dozen other titles as long and impressive as the length of a man's arm. Some called him a Lord Protector while a few knew him as the Third Preside of the High Council of Gyrin, and fewer still knew him as a Guardian of Order, Protector of the Temporal Continuums that abounded in the Fourth Galactic Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy (which itself was but a small backwater port when compared to the larger interests that he kept a close watch upon). He was many things to a great many people, yet few who dwelt within his domain even knew that he existed, which was precisely as he desired it to be, for only a few could handle the very concept of what a Guardian was, let alone truly comprehend how such a being might pose himself in the guise of a "mere mortal."

Derek was a member of a race that was old when the Universe had been created, and as a proud member of a long and illustrious line he carried with him a legacy and a destiny that was as irrevocable as it was enigmatic. Though seemingly quite human, in actuality he is far more than he appeared. Some called him a Hero, others known him for a villain. He was neither entirely good nor evil but preferred to set and live by his own definitions for good and bad conduct. On such worlds as he chose to be known he would assume the guise of a lordly protector, but when the mood suited him he could be quite ruthless and uncaring of the consequences that his actions would have upon others. He was not truly a God (for Gods, if the truth be known, have their limitations) but he sometimes like to jest that he was what God would be like if he chose to play dice with the universe and the fates of mere mortals.

Ruler of the Eastern Isles, Defender of Otara, heir to the Crown of Telnin, Overseer of the Western Realms, Dark Lord of Delgot, Wielder of the sword Star Slayer, Honored member of the Ti-Lo-Chi...all of these identities were mere shadows that hid the reality of his existence. In truth he was a great many things more than appearances would suggest, and his powers were quite considerable, linked as he was to the operating machinery that governed the Cosmos.

As a Guardian, however, he had a responsibility and a duty to oversee the workings of the Timestream, and this he preferred to do through numerous agencies and lesser pawns who patrolled bits and stretches of the Multiverse in his stead, leaving him free to concentrate his energies on those particular timestreams that most intensely held his interest. In truth his favorite hobby was playing with the destinies of the many worlds under his dominion, a hobby that of late had become something of a private obsession, given the fascination that he had discovered while meddling in the life of one particular mortal, a Nexus by the name of Saotome Ranma. By himself this Ranma was nothing special, hardly worth all the time and bother...but the way that this boy could affect the lives of those around him, even extending to the larger continent of Asia, made his activities a source of greater interest than might be estimated, given that the boy himself was but a candleflick of a mortal lifetime. Nexus points came and went with great regularity, but this Ranma was...unique in some strange, indefinable manner, and that made him interesting to Derek.

It also made him extremely useful.

How many times had he chosen to personally intervene in the life of this particular mortal? Even Derek could not say, though his sometime companion, Serena, was always willing to volunteer her opinion on the matter. Many times the two of them had laid bets on the outcome of a particular temporal alteration, and so Derek would "adjust" a particular timestream and make it divert from its normal flow, often little more than a **tiny** little adjustment that would be the equivalent of tossing a pebble into still waters, rippling outward as greater and greater changes would result from these alterations.

Nothing serious, of course, and easily repaired should the deviation grow too abnormal, but quite often he would allow an Altered Destiny to continue if it panned out into something wonderful and different. To some it might seem as though he were a mere child playing with the affairs of others, but in truth he did not choose to make these changes willy-nilly, and from the perspective upon which he operated it was far more interesting to see how people would shape their own affairs once a change was set in operation. He did not control the behavior of mortals...that was neither his specialty nor his intention, but rather he would study how people chose to behave in the lights of altered circumstances. It was a source of great delight to him...and the one thing that any Immortal needs more than food itself it's a diversion to break the tedium of an endless and all but predictable existence.

At the moment, however, he was deeply concerned with one of many such machinations that had provided an unfortunate opening to his chief adversary, a fellow member of his race (whom he would facetiously call his "Brother," though in fact they were not blood-related) who had once been a part of the High Council of Gyrin, now a renegade who stood in opposition to the Multiversal Program. Karadon was, in many respects, Derek's opposite number, an often-  
humorless individual with pretensions to being a great Aesthetic. Karadon was a perfectionist (he preferred to call himself "An Artist") who had grown disenchanted and embittered at the slow pace of natural evolution. He was determined to end the Program entirely and restart it from the beginning. He had tried to achieve this while still a member of the Council, and because of his failing he had been banished by his fellow Guardians and forbidden to have further dealings with the Universal Computer.

They had even forced him to turn in the keys to the wash room, but some fool in the Oversight department (now there was an apropos title if ever there was one!) had forgotten to remove from Karadon the all-important access codes that made him a Guardian and gave him power over one portion of the Cosmos.

It was because of this oversight that Derek now had yet another mess created by his "brother" that needed cleaning up. It was all quite annoying, truly, and such a lot of bother to go through. Ordinarily if someone caused Derek this much unnecessary work, he would have confronted the fellow directly and cheerfully terminated his existence. Unfortunately a direct confrontation between them was all but impossible...the results would have been too catastrophic to imagine! With the powers that were at their disposal they could rip the Multiverse apart and never even come close to gaining an advantage on one another! (Which, come to think of it, would suit Karadon's purposes quite grandly)

No, a direct battle between the two Guardians was not a good option, not unless Derek himself wanted to bring an end to his favorite playground. That left the decidedly less savory task to secondary and tertiary parties, proxies and the like, whom the two of them could set against one another like pieces on a massive Chess board, like Role Playing Gamers rolling dice to determine the fate of the entire cosmos. It was not so much a battle of "Good Versus Evil" as it was between two different ideologies, one that favored things the way they are (but saw room for improvement) and the other who wanted to void all that was and had been in order to create what could be perfection (and how boring that would be if Karadon had his way and took all the "fun" out of existence!), and as such it was more a matter of Existence Versus Extinction, a theme not unlike the Darwinian model that had inspired Karadon's revolt in the first place.

So now they were playing yet another game whose stakes were quite unimaginable to most people, but this time Karadon had made one fatal error and left an opening that Derek intended to exploit. It all depended on how his mortal pawns took up the initiative, given the clues that he had deliberately placed in their pathway, and whether Karadon persisted to act in an all-too-predictable manner. Precise focus and timing were essential, but if the results paid off as Derek hoped, then it might well be the death knell of his "brother" rather than the cosmos.

Still, it never hurt to check on how his mortals were doing, and so far it seemed that they were carrying off their part to perfection.

"Nervous?" he heard a voice ask from somewhere just over his shoulder.

"Why should I be nervous?" Derek asked, "You think I've left too much to chance or something?"

"You always leave too much to chance," Serena chided, "Just because you're 'All Seeing and All Knowing' doesn't mean you can't be taken by surprise, especially since you LIKE surprises! The Powers know you arrange enough of them for yourself..."

"I just don't like doing things the easy way," Derek shrugged, "Is there something wrong with that?"

"That all depends," Serena snorted, "Like that Cock and Bull story you fed those girls. If I didn't know any better I'd ask if you were ashamed of yourself."

"Like I've got anything to feel ashamed about?" Derek replied, "Besides...I find them interesting, especially the Lore Master. Not one of my creations, by the way, more like a self-insertion carried out by her mother."

"Which is, no doubt, the reason you find her interesting," Serena chided, "Come on...you can level with me. Aren't you just a little bit nervous? I mean, sure everything seems to be working so far, but one slip at a critical moment and everything and everybody goes BOOM in this arm of the Galactic system."

"It would be a pity," Derek sniffed, "The paperwork alone would be horrendous, to say nothing about what the Council would have to say about the noise. I really must make a note to speak with the cleaning lady...she may have to put in for overtime on this one."

"Lady Death would not be amused," Serena agreed, "And I don't mean that cheesy half-Angel with the inflatable boobs either! You're really stacking the deck heavily this time, and if it all goes out with one swift bang then it's not going to stop with just the Multiverse...you know that, right?"

"Of course," Derek noted, "But why worry? It'll work. My plans always do when I take the time to craft them in this much detail. Storming the castle from numerous fronts has kept Karadon too busy to figure out what I'm really up to, and in another few minutes he's going to get the surprise of his existence. His last if I have anything to say about it."

"I don't know about that part," Serena said dubiously, "I mean...he is still technically a Guardian. Do you really think that even something like this can take down one of you guys?"

"We'll have to wait and see about that, won't we?" Derek mused, "But in the meantime, have a look at how our pawns are faring. It would seem that Ranko's group is about to make yet another interesting encounter..."

Continuity # 72391865

Roll Call:

Ranko Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Akane, Apprenticed Time Agent Kachima Tendo -Daughter of Ranma and Nabiki, Apprenticed Lore Master Silver Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Rinse Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Watazashi Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Kodachi, Anything Goes Rhythmic Gymnastics Yuan-Yen Tendo -Daughter of Mousse and Nabiki, Hidden Weapons Ryu

"Cheerful place," Watazashi commented as she scanned their new surroundings, taking notice of the sky overhead being bright and sunny, the trees all green and leafy with the warm hint of a late fall on the horizons, and the sounds of birdsong wafting on the gentle breeze, "Maybe even a bit too idyllic if you come right down to the matter..."

"Yeah," Yuan-Yen noted beside her, "This is almost like something out of a kid's cartoon, the kind that starts out light and airy, but in another moment some kind of monster is going to leap out at you from concealment."

"Do you always have to look on the downside of everything?" Silver asked of the brown haired Tendo.

"Of course," Yuan-Yen replied, "It's how I cope with possible disappointments, reading the balance sheets in the plusses and minuses column. When I compare the best and the worst that could possibly happen, then I'm less likely to be taken by unpleasant surprises that may lay hidden beneath the good stuff that's like window dressing."

"If you're saying that this place looks a little too perfect," Ranko nodded, "I'd definitely agree with you. Of course it doesn't hurt that we're just outside of Doctor Tofu's clinic, and that always did seem a bit brighter for me than other parts of Nerima."

"Tofu's place?" Rinse studied the sign outside the clinic entrance, "What would we be doing here? Hey, I wonder if Belldandy has an equivalent on this Time frame."

"Belldandy?" Kachima mused, "Indeed...the Template of my good friend, Veil. Yes, I confess that I am curious on that point as well. Shall we go inside and make our acquaintance?"

"Are you kidding?" Silver asked, "What do you expect us to do, walk up to the door and say, 'Excuse us, we're some Kids from an alternate universe who just happen to be stopping by in your neighborhood. Would you happen to know of any Saotomes we could contact?'"

"That would seem a bit imprudent at best," Watazashi admitted, "Granted that we are here to find another Paratime counterpart to ourselves, but there ought to be more diplomatic methods of obtaining the results that we are after..."

"Hello, may I help you people?"

"Well now," Yuan-Yen smiled as she turned to take note of the person who was addressing them, "Speak of the Oni by name and she shall arise...and what do we have this time?"

The others took note of the speculative tone in the voice of the only non-sister present in their group and found a young girl standing in the doorway to the clinic, a girl whose hair was a light beige color yet was done up in the style of a pair of Amazon odangos. She was dressed in a Nurse's outfit and stood poised in a manner that was unselfconsciously sensual. Her beauty was quite remarkable, as was her strong resemblance to at least two members of their party.

"Oh wow," Rinse murmured.

"You said it," Silver noted.

Watazashi-ever the mistress of poise and calm in most situations-smiled congenially to this new face in the crowd and said, "Pardon us for not knocking. We've come in search of the Doctor...is he in?"

"I'm afraid my honored father, the Doctor, is not in at the moment," the girl graciously noted, "Nor is my mother...but their assistant is presently here and he is quite accomplished as a healer. If you wish, he may examine you and inform the Doctor of any medical needs that you require."

"How polite she is," Kachima mused, "The very model of a hostess."

"Three guesses who her parents are," Yuan-Yen murmured, "And the first two don't count."

"That is very kind of you," Watazashi replied, then gently nudged Ranko forward, "Our sister here has a very rare and unusual condition, and we thought perhaps you might care to examine her, if your...Assistant is not too busy."

"Huh?" Ranko blinked, then belatedly caught on, "Oh yeah...my...condition..."

"I am certain that he will find the time to attend to your needs," the Nurse's assistant said coyly, stepping back and indicating the lobby that was behind her, "If you will come this way, I will inform him of your arrival."

Watazashi accepted the offer on behalf of her companions, then together the Paratime siblings filed into the clinic, which seemed remarkably unchanged from what they each knew from their own experiences, albeit that there was a strange kind of warmth in the air, like a subtle aroma that was highly appealing to the senses.

"Well now," Silver mused, "Guess on this timeline Mom married the Doctor..."

"Not too surprising when you think about it," Rinse mused, "Mom used to work for Tofu as a Medical assistant..."

"Yes," Watazashi remarked, "And I am given to understand that he was the one who first taught her the purpose of a door handle."

"According to Mom, the Shampoo on our world used to make her own entrances and exits anywhere she went," Yuan-Yen mused, "Her son's the same way, only in Razor's case it's because he has all the directional sense of a Hibiki."

"Runs in the family, or so I'm told," Ranko glanced around, "I wonder if this Assistant guy is her brother or something...you think your Mom might've taken on two husbands this time around?"

"In the absence of further evidence, that is difficult to-Oh my..." Kachima marveled, as did the rest of their party as all heads turned to observe the tall figure who entered from the rear of the clinic.

To say he was handsome would have been a cruel understatement...he was absolutely breathtaking in an almost Bishonen kind of way, calm and poised with very fair skin and a pair of gentle blue eyes that radiated warmth and compassion. His brown hair was done up in a warrior's braid, but he was wearing a tan-colored martial arts gi that seemed well weathered and quite humble. He walked with incredible ease to his bearing on sandaled feet that were poised as though he were a ballet dancer, and his smile quite literally lit up the room as he surveyed their number and then said (in a voice so deep yet softly mellow that it could be compared to honeyed thunder), "Hello there, which one of you is here to see me?"

Without a word being exchanged between them, all six women raised their hands, including Yuan-Yen and Watazashi.

"Oh...well," the youth remarked, "I was told I would be seeing only one of you. Well, it is kind of a slow day, so I suppose I could examine each of you in turn, if you like."

It was the kind of comment that would normally have produced a stampede on the best of occasions, but a slight pulsing at Ranko's breast snapped her out of her momentary daze so that she said, "Ah...excuse me for asking but...what's your name?"

"Oh?" the man seemed curious as he regarded the redhead, as if recognizing her from somewhere else, but after a moment's pause he replied, "My name is Saotome Tenma, and yours?"

"Ranko," she automatically replied, then shook herself out of the daze his smile was causing her and said, "Saotome Ranko...in fact...we're kind of related..."

"Saotome?" the man seemed curious about this, "Are you a cousin of mine? Forgive me for asking, but I have the strangest feeling we've met somewhere before...and you look a little like...someone else I know quite well."

"Your father, right?" Ranko asked, then before the man could answer she rushed on ahead, "Look...we're not really here for an examination..."

"Speak for yourself," Silver murmured.

"He can examine me any time that he likes," Kachima agreed with a most lascivious expression.

"..." Ranko pointedly glared at her companions and they immediately looked chagrined, although only momentarily crestfallen as their eyes darted back to the handsome guy in their midst.

"Ahem," Watazashi shook herself out of her own daze, wondering why she had allowed herself to be this affected by a member of the Male species, "What our sister means to say is that we are on a quest of great importance that seems to directly concern you...our brother."

"Brother?" this time the one speaking was the light-haired Amazon girl, who had been standing to one side looking amused at the lustful antics of the other girls up until this moment, "Explain that one, please."

"Er..." Rinse gave the other girl a curious glance before saying, "Would you believe me if I said that we're all related here...Sister?"

"Sister?" the poise and calm of the other girl had by now given way to a more wary appraisal, like an elegant knife handle that had just begun to show its steel, "How is it that you claim to be this one's sister?"

"It's a long story," Ranko replied, touching the pendant on her breast, "This thing here is a magical item that can transport people through time and spatial dimensions..."

"Indeed?" the man asked, "May I examine it?"

"I'd...rather you didn't," Ranko winced, "I'm kind of attached to the thing, and if I let it out of my possession...well...I won't really even be here."

"Indeed?" Tenma replied, frowning slightly, "Curious. That would explain the peculiar resonance that I've been sensing about you. I knew that there was a Tremor in the Force a moment ago, but I had no idea that such a thing would signify dimensional transfer."

"The Force?" Rinse repeated.

"Huh?" Yuan-Yen reacted to the second part of the young man's statement, "You know about dimensional transfers?"

"Curious," Kachima mused, "I can perceive that your own aura is very highly charged and focused. There is a harmony about you...a serenity that goes beyond the normal awareness of the present..."

"Who are you people?" the light haired girl demanded, now fully on edge as the warrior replaced the nursing assistant.

"That is what we are trying to tell you," Watazashi replied, "We come from different worlds, different versions of Nerima, yet all of us-save for my dear Yuan here-share the unique distinction of having Saotome Ranma for our father."

"You don't say?" the young man scanned the faces of each of the girls present then nodded to Yuan, "You must be the lone exception here, then, not counting my fianc e, Bonbon."

"Bonbon?" Silver turned an incredulous look at the other girl, "That's your name?"

"Tofu Bonbon," the other girl replied, "Why? Is there a significance to the question?"

"Easy here," Ranko urged, "Let's not get excited about everything. Look, I know it's a lot to ask, and we really didn't come here to cause you people trouble, it's just...we have this real bad emergency, and we need your help..."

"Indeed," the boy named Tenma replied, "Perhaps if you were to explain the nature of this emergency, then I might be able to help. My specialty is medicine, but I have...lots of other valuable talents."

"I'll just bet you do," Kachima mused with a sensual purr that Nurse Bonbon no longer found so amusing.

"If you are my iinazuke's sister, as you claim," Bonbon said, "Then what you contemplate now would constitute a form of incest."

"And your point is?" Kachima smiled back meaningfully, then added, "Sister?"

Bonbon gulped, having been unprepared for that particular sort of a reaction.

"It would be difficult to explain everything that is going on now, Sir," Watazashi spoke again, "Many of us have not even the least fragment of an idea what sort of emergency is facing us, but given recent past experience, I would take it on faith that the emergency is dire enough to require our involvement."

"Oh yeah," Ranko averred, "You could definitely...uh oh! It's happening again!"

"Eh?" Tenma frowned slightly then glanced at the air around them, "Curious...I sense another disturbance in the Force..."

"What is this strange feeling that I have?" Bonbon looked down at herself, then with mild alarm she said, "This one is...fading?"

"We're translocating," Yuan-Yen replied, "If feels pretty odd at first, but you get used to it after a while..."

"But where are we going?" Tenma wondered.

"That's the Hundred-thousand yen question, ain't it?" Silver replied.

"There is no way of knowing in advanced where we are headed," Watazashi mused, "But I suppose we will know once we have arrived there...Ah! See what I mean? Instant scene change!"

This time their surroundings appeared to be both bleak and barren, and the air was noticeably thinner than before, causing ears to pop all over. A series of hasty yawns and some deep breathing exercises restored equilibrium to their collective bearing, but when the party was finally adjusted to the change in altitude it was Rinse who managed to say, "Where the heck are we this time? The Himalayas?"

"Sure is cold enough for that," Yuan-Yen shivered slightly, prompting Watazashi to use the excuse to slip an arm around her waist and draw her in closer to her own body.

"I believe that we are in the near vicinity of that location," Kachima mused as she studied their surroundings, "At least in a geographical sense. My guess would be Tibet, that benighted province in southern China that has been home to so much tragedy in my world...and I would assume the same for many of you as well. Odd, though...I am detecting...a most unusual presence..."

"What's that smell?" Silver wrinkled her nose, "It's almost...like some kind of spice..."

"It is spicy," Rinse sniffed the air, "Not too unpleasant, certainly better than Yinra's attempts at cooking..."

"YOU!" Bonbon rounded on the party, "What have you done with this one and her iinazuke?"

"Easy there, Honey," Tenma urged, "I don't think they meant us any harm...but I do admit to being a bit curious as to why they took us with them before I had fully agreed to help in their mission."

"Hey, it wasn't my idea," Ranko protested, pointing once again at her pendant, "This thing is programmed to take us places, and I don't really have any control over where it wants to go..."

"Then perhaps you should discard such a thing before it gets you into trouble."

"Eh?" Watazashi turned her head to glance towards the mouth of a nearby cave.

"Uh oh," Yuan-Yen remarked, "Looks like we're not alone here..."

"No fooling," Silver turned to confront the one who had just addressed them, "And who the hell are you?"

"That would be my next question," said the figure who had appeared from within the cave mouth, "Trespassers are not welcome in this demesne. Begone now lest I grow irritated at this interruption to my meditations."

"Charming fellow," Kachima inclined her head, "But don't underestimate him. I sense great power within this one, Sisters."

"So do I," Tenma said with caution, "The Force is stronger in this one than in the rest of us put together."

"There's that word again," Rinse faintly murmured.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" declared the angry figure who stood dressed from neck to toe in an ornate-looking form of armor, and whose hair streamed from his shoulders in black and white streamers that were bound up into a warriors braid at the rear, "Begone...leave here now, or I will be forced to take action to remove you."

"I'd like to see you try," Silver bridled, "You and what army!"

"Is that really necessary?" Yuan-Yen hissed at the level of a stage whisper, "Didn't you just hear the warning? This guy is not somoebody to be taken lightly!"

"Indeed," Watazashi mused, "Tell us, good sire...would you, by any chance, harken to the name of Saotome?"

"Saotome?" the figure glowered dangerously, "Why would you ask?"

"Oh...idle speculation," Watazashi mused, "We are from the clan of Saotome...is that cause for concern on your part?"

"The clan...of Saotome?" the figure glared dangerously, "I don't know what you are talking about."

"But you do know what we are implying," Kachima stepped forward, "I can sense it in you...you are a Saotome. Only...curious...I also sense that Saotome Ranma is the name of your...mother."

"WHAT?" came the collective gasps of those in their party most easily shocked by such a revelation, which included everyone, especially Watazashi.

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK OF SUCH THINGS!" the black-and-white haired armored figure raised a fist in a threatening gesture, and to their alarm it began glowing with concentrated battle aura, "YOU, a mere woman! And an Amazon no less by your likeness!"

"Ah...I get the funny feeling he doesn't like Amazons too much," Rinse said in nervous appraisal.

"Yeah?" Silver growled, "So the feeling's mutual, and what's that crack about 'MERE' women supposed to mean?"

"It means that he is of the Musk Dynasty," Bonbon answered, "We have had dealings with his kind before, and some of them none-too-pleasant."

"Hold on here," Tenma waved a hand in a placating manner, "We mean you no harm, we are not your enemies. Please listen to what I have to say, there is no cause for any violence."

"And why should I listen to any lies from you?" the armored figure challenged.

"Because I never lie to anyone," Tenma responded, "Deception is of the Dark side, and you are not of that visage. I can sense your pain and bereavement...brother..."

"My bereavement?" the salt-and-peppered haired young man declared as he gestured with his fist, "And I am not your BROTHER!"

Almost too quick for the eye to follow, a blast of concentrated Chi-energy lashed out towards Tenma, who sprang forward as something leaped into his hand and was instantly activated, calling forth a meter-long energy beam of intense silver radiance that blocked the Chi-attack and harmlessly deflected it sideways.

"I KNEW IT!" Rinse declared as the party collectively gasped upon seeing the calm-voiced Medical student suddenly holding a Light Saber, "It's Star Wars all over again, gang! This guy's an Obi-Wan clone, or I'll eat my Gold Letter-boxed collected edition!"

"You are formidable," the black-and-white haired boy remarked with the lifting of a pepper-colored eyebrow.

"And you were aiming to scare me with that attack," Tenma held his Saber at the ready, "I could sense you intended to miss by a fraction."

"Indeed?" the armored young man lifted an eyebrow, then gestured with another glowing fist, "Then this time I will not miss since I can see you are not a foe to be taken light-EH?"

There was no warning of an attack, but the stranger was just barely able to sense his imminent danger when suddenly Bonbon was upon him like a springing tiger. He had no chance of erecting his defenses before her foot caught him along the side of his chin and tumbled him sideways so that he went sprawling down the worn stone steps that were leading up to the cave, and when at last he managed to halt his tumble he found the girl in the Nurse's uniform poised over him with a pair of glowing energy spheres projecting from twin rods that she held in her fists as she snarled at him with the savagery of a Tigress defending her mate.

"Bonbon!" Tenma urged, "Don't hurt him...he's just confused. He wasn't trying to seriously hurt me. I can sense his intentions were more of a bluff to scare us off than a serious challenge."

"Indeed?" the boy remained oddly calm in the face of the obvious threat posed towards him by the woman wielding the energy maces, "It would seem that I underestimated you. Your mate, I presume?"

"My fianc e," Tenma said as he deactivated his Light Saber.

"I see," the arrogant boy gazed up at the features of the lovely woman, which even then were regaining their calm and composed status (though she did not relax her posture by a fraction he also duly noted) "A formidable girl...worthy of a warrior, and an Amazon no less. I did not even sense her attack...that speaks highly for her training."

"Well, what can I say?" Tenma smiled affably, "She's had good teachers. Bon-  
chan, put those away. He's not going to attack us any more. He just wasn't too sure about our intentions."

"I still am not," the armored young man said as Bonbon stood away and deactivated her maces, "But I can see that you will not easily be deterred from your path. Forgive that I am not as gracious a host as I should wish to be under better circumstances, but...you have caught me at a very bad time..."

"We sympathize, truly," Kachima replied, nodding towards the cave, "You were trying to keep us away from there, weren't you? That's where she's resting...the one you seem so intent on protecting."

"You know?" the armored boy stared at the brown haired girl in surprise, then sighed, "Of course...you are a Lore Master. I should have guessed that from the beginning. There is nothing that is beyond your knowing...unless it is a cure for my beloved's condition."

"Your...beloved?" Ranko repeated.

"Indeed," the armored boy got to his feet and studied the expressions on the faces confronting him then said, "I can see that you know nothing of these matters, so I will trust you...for now. My name is Prince Cinnamon, and I am indeed the rightful heir to the Musk Dynasty that controls this portion of China."

"This...portion of China?" Rinse blinked her eyes at this statement.

"Let me hazard another wild guess," Kachima mused, "On your world the recent history of China has experienced a breakdown in the central authority of Beijing. China has fragmented into separate nationalities and reestablished itself into different historical enclaves, one of which has come to be dominated by the Musk Dynasty and includes Tibet among the territories of one collective."

"You speak as if such things were news to you," Prince Cinnamon remarked, "Are you saying that the history you know is other than what I know to be the case?"

"Forgive us for being ignorant of your world and your ways, Prince," Watazashi replied, "But we come from places where events happened a bit differently than the chronology of your world. In my own Timeline there has indeed been a fragmentation to the collective order of China, but the government has resolved this by forming a Democracy in place of the old Communist state and has recognized the independence of such provinces as Tibet and the Qing-Hi Bayankalah region that you hail from."

"Has it now?" Prince Cinnamon asked, "And are you expecting me to believe that you are from different worlds with histories that differ from my own?"

"Yeah," Silver retorted, "You wanna make something of it, loser?"

"Hmmm..." Cinnamon eyed the silver haired girl with more amusement than offense, "Such arrogance is indeed a familiar trademark of the Saotome line. Are you also, then, expecting me to believe that my Mother had a child like you for a daughter."

"My Pop had me," Silver growled, "My Mom's an Amazon and...huh? Did you say...Mom?"

"My father," the Prince replied, "Is King Herb the First, Emperor of Western China. I had thought, perhaps, that you were mercenaries hired by him in an attempt to find me, but now I can clearly see that you are not. Do I take it, then, that the rest of you are also to be accounted my sisters and brother?"

"You man indeed construe this," Watazashi replied, "I am Saotome Watazashi...and these are my sisters, Ranko, Kachima, Rinse, Tenma...and this charming platinum-  
haired firebrand addressing you is our sister, Silver. Then, of course, there is Nurse Bonbon and my dear, sweet Yuan-Yen, who are not themselves Saotomes but are all but that by the blessings of a holy union."

"I see," the Prince seemed to be weighing something over, then pivoted on one leather heel and said, "Follow me...there is someone I must show you. Tread softly, I fear that she may not be in any condition to greet you as a proper hostess."

Silver blinked her eyes and said, "Who died and elected him Boss?"

"Well, he is a Prince after all," Kachima mused, "It would most rude not to take him up on his kind offer."

The party did indeed follow with Tenma assuming a leadership position. Why that was could not be easily discerned as the boy was too mild-mannered and self-  
effacing to truly assert any authority...but there was that about the dignity in his bearing that made the women in their party want to follow in his wake. Prince Cinnamon seemed to accept Tenma's place at his side as they ascended the stairs and entered the cave mouth, Bonbon only two steps behind her fianc e and keeping her hands at the ready as the two metal rods hanging at her hips seemed ready to come alive at any moment.

Inside they found a small encampment near the rear of the cavern in which a bundled form lay still and as motionless as death. Only the slight rise and fall of her bosoms could attest that she was even alive, and at the sight of her there were several gasps in their party, for this girl had purple hair and features that closely resembled those of Rinse, Silver and Bonbon.

"Behold," Prince Cinnamon spoke with surprising gentleness in his voice, "My own dearest beloved, the Princess Nutmeg, also of the clan-as you put it-of Saotome."

"Your...beloved?" Ranko repeated softly.

"He means his fianc e," Kachima replied, "An arranged marriage between half-  
siblings...quite typical for Dynastic marriages as these things go..."

"Yeah," Silver groused, "If you like having two heads and four arms in your kids..."

"Excuse me?" Yuan-Yen eyed the pale-haired Saotome with raised eyebrows, "This coming from a girl who wants to date her own brother?"

"Ah...well..." Silver winced slightly.

"May I approach her?" Tenma asked, "I have medical training."

"If you can, please do," Prince Cinnamon waved a hand towards the sleeping woman, "She was poisoned by an arrow that had been intended for me...and I have been attending her for three days, yet she has not yet regained consciousness. I...I fear the worst may befall her at any moment..."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Tenma spoke with unusual authority, signaling Bonbon to accompany him as the two knelt down and began examining the unconscious princess.

"You say an enemy sought to take your life...but came this close to claiming her own?" Watazashi asked, pausing before adding, "If you do not mind answering the question of a 'mere' woman."

"Forgive me," Prince Cinnamon sighed, "Old habits die hard. I was not raised to think of women as being the equals to men. My...mother was an exception because she could assume male form and had been born a man. My father indulged her a good deal of the time, when it would not pose a public scandal in the Musk court."

"Wait, hold on here!" Silver urged, "How in the hell did my Pop come to be...be..."

"Married?" Watazashi suggested.

"Yeah, right," Silver winced, then continued, "Get shacked up with the likes of your old man? I mean, weren't they kinda like enemies or something...?"

"Enemies?" the Prince said in genuine surprise, "Why would you ever think that? My mother came to live at my father's court a short time after acquiring his curse and they have been nearly inseparable companions ever since. In his male aspect my mother learned a great deal from my father and used this knowledge to win over the mother of Nutmeg as a royal concubine. We have been at odds with the Amazon nation off-and-on every since over that issue because of Nutmeg's ties to the former Matriarch of their tribes..."

"The former Matriarch?" Ranko repeated.

"Yes," Cinnamon replied, "Before she was deposed by the current Matriarch, a wily pink-haired Bitch who has been instigating troubles between our peoples ever since. I cannot prove it directly, but I have strong reason to suspect that she was the one who sent those agents to kill us with a poison of Amazon extraction..."

"Well, you are right about that," Tenma reported from where he was sitting, having bared the shoulder of the sleeping woman to expose the discovered portion of skin that marked the entry point for an arrow head, "It's definitely an Amazon poison, but not one that's all that hard to identify, given the advanced symptoms that she's exhibiting. Fortunately it's also one for which I have a cure in my medicine pouch. She's very weak and might not have lasted too much longer if we hadn't gotten to her in time, but I do believe that there is a chance..."

"You can save her?" Prince Cinnamon all but jumped as he spoke those words.

Tenma looked up to meet the hopeful gaze of the Prince and nodded, "I'll do everything that is in my power to bring her back to you, but I'm going to need a few moments of silence."

"Bother..." Cinnamon's voice was suddenly constricted with emotion, "If you do this...then any price you ask of me will be too small a demand...I will be in your debt forever if you save the life of she whose life means more to me than my own..."

"Like I said, I'll do what I can," Tenma promised, "But please...continue talking somewhere else. I need to concentrate with the minimal amount of distraction that can be afforded?"

"You heard the gentleman," Watazashi remarked, "Everyone outside...let the healer heal in accordance to his profession."

"Everyone outside," Cinnamon directed as he turned and followed his own lead.

"That guy's got a terminal case of Bossiness," Silver grumbled.

"Well, it is his home, after all," Kachima urged the others to follow the Prince's example.

Once outside it was all that Cinnamon could do to keep himself from pacing. The animation of the man was palpable, and was his need to relieve his anxiety and frustration.

"Tell us more about yourself, Prince," Yuan-Yen urged, "Like...why are you living out here like an animal in this wilderness when it's obvious to anyone that you belong in a palace?"

"I had a...falling out with my father," Cinnamon replied, casting his gaze hither and yon to the horizons, "At one time the Emperor was a kind and benevolent ruler, but of late he has grown...strange and mercurial. Perhaps it is the blood of the Dragons that surges in both of our veins, I do not truly know, but he has become suspicious and jealous of anyone who might even casually eclipse his power and authority. I fear he is well on his way to becoming a true Tyrant, and were it not for the loyalty of such as my mother, I am certain that he would already have sunk into the sorry pattern of far too many tyrants before him. Already he has jailed many leaders of the opposition factions in court, held summary trials and banished many advisers who dared to question his policies. There is no real dissent tolerated in court, and anyone who stands accused of treason could lose their head if they do not recant their sins before others. A dearly beloved friend from my childhood was recently sent into the mines over a trifling comment that he was careless enough to allow to be overheard. When I spoke out against these injustices he ordered me exiled. I took my beloved Nutmeg with me so that we could continue to be together...or rather...she insisted on following and would not be deterred. In a great many ways she has this...strength of character that is almost like that of a man...I do know how I could endure if I did not have her at my side..."

"Wow," Ranko said, "No wonder you got so worked up about us showing up on your doorstep."

"Even paranoids have enemies," Watazashi mused, "And you have better reason than most to be paranoid. From your description of affairs, it would appear that your father has sunk into a kind of madness that derives from the wielding of absolute power."

"I am no traitor to my father or my people," Cinnamon stood and cast his gaze off in a northerly direction, "But if events continue as they have...then I will be forced to take some kind of action, if only to spare my country from further hardship."

"If such is the case," Kachima asked, "Why then would you suspect the Amazons of plotting your downfall? If anything, they would seem poised to gain if you remain an active opponent to the policies of your father."

"That troubles me too," Cinnamon glanced down, "But it is far preferable to thinking the alternative...that my own father might consider me more of a threat than his rightful heir. I have even heard it said that he seeks to gain the ultimate power of Immortality...and if he achieves eternal life, then what need would he have of an heir? That my sire could have succumbed to such a madness is unthinkable, but I would be a fool to overlook the possibility. No, better by far to accuse Perfume of the Amazons of being the one who has sought my life...a simpler explanation...perhaps too simple if the use of an Amazon poison were to be detected on my corpse."

"Sounds like you've been thinking a lot about this," Rinse remarked.

"I have done nothing else but think for three days," Cinnamon replied, "I have barely eaten in all that time...little more than what it has taken to sustain me, since...if my beloved continues to decline...then only my strength can serve to ease her final moments. I...I cannot speak more of this...forgive me..."

"Hey, nobody here's blaming you or anything," Ranko walked up to the Prince, "Look...we got off on the wrong foot, and I'm really sorry about that. Happens a lot with me with this Timetravel and Dimension hopping gig. Everywhere I go it's a different story, but now that I've heard your side of things...well...y'know...it ain't so hard to think of you as...well...one of Pop's kids..."

"I wouldn't go that far," Silver sniffed, "I still can't get over the bit about Pop being his mother..."

"Stranger things have been known to happen," Kachima mused.

"Tell me about it," Rinse rolled her eyes skyward.

"Y'know," Yuan-Yen spoke up, "This may not be the best time to bring this up, but we do kind of have a mission that we're supposed to be getting on with. Come to think of it, you guys still haven't told 'Zashi and me what the deal is?"

"That is because we are a bit vague on certain details ourselves," Kachima replied, "What we know is that Ranko and I were sent out to gather alternate versions of ourselves into a kind of strike team aimed at preventing a Universe-  
destroying calamity created by a being of indescribable powers. It has to do with multiple dimensions and probability lines being concentrated together..."

"Makes sense," Silver sniffed, "I mean...Rinse and me have the same parents, but the rest of you guys all have different mothers...ah...except you, I mean, Prince..."

"Indeed," Watazashi mused, "Let us pause to reflect on that. I, of course, am the daughter of Kodachi from the family of Kuno..."

"Kachima and me are both from two different Tendo sisters," Ranko mused, "And unless I miss my guess, tall, brown and incredibly handsome over there's probably the son of one of our Aunts..."

"Aunt Kasumi to be precise," Kachima duly affirmed.

"And since Shampoo's the mother of at least three members of our party," Yuan-  
Yen mused, "That means we're only missing a child from Kuonji Ukyo, the other Fianc e whose claim was strongest on 'Zashi's father."

"Indeed," Watazashi mused, "Mother once told me that Kuonji-san was most insistent in pressing her claim and among the hardest to deter of all her possible rivals. I wonder why, then, we should find a child from a far less likely union-no offense to you, dear Prince-before we encounter a son or daughter from that house."

"It's a mystery all right," Rinse sighed, "I like my Aunt Ukyo, she always feeds us kids plenty of extra okonomiyaki helpings when we get off from school...and I'm...well...kinda engaged to her son, so...she's probably gonna wind up being one of my Mothers-in-law...oboy..."

"You know your problem, Sis?" Silver remarked, "You've got too many fianc es...and half of them are just as likely to kill you as kiss you."

"This all sounds quite fascinating," Cinnamon turned to regard his paratime siblings, "And I am quite certain that I would love to know how events were handled in your respective worlds, but until my beloved is restored to me I cannot think of anything else..."

"Then think no more, Prince," Bonbon announced form the cave mouth, "My...sister is awake and feeling a lot better now, thanks to this one's own iinazuke."

"She lives?" Cinnamon all but shoved his way through the party in his haste to return to the cave mouth.

"Hey, watch the fire, Bud!" Silver complained at the rude treatment, then grumbled, "Give a guy a royal pedigree and he thinks he owns the whole universe..."

"Just deal with it for now," Ranko urged, "We need his help, like, yesterday?"

"Let us go see if our brother has achieved the near miracle that we have all hoped for," Kachima urged, and together they ascended the steps at a more leisurely pace than that used by the Musk Prince.

Inside they heard the sounds of open weeping as they found Cinnamon embracing the purple haired girl, whose upper body was exposed to open viewing, murmuring such things as "It is all right...I am feeling better now, beloved...do not cry...you must be strong..."

"I am not strong," Cinnamon sobbed gently into her shoulder, "I have been weak and selfish beyond belief to have dragged you through all of this, and you almost died...because I was so selfish..."

"You are my Prince," she said happily, "I could never bear to be parted from your side. You are my strength and my whole reason for living..."

"Never more will we be parted," Cinnamon declared, "I pledge my life to protecting you, and in all things I am your servant. None will ever harm you again, I swear..."

"And there is none who dares to harm you while I draw breath," The girl smiled radiantly, then looked past her shoulders at the faces of the strangers around them and said, "These are the allies who have come seeking your help?"

"You know about such things?" Cinnamon gasped.

"When I lay still at the door to death's holy realm, I had a...sense of all that was going on around me," Nutmeg replied, "I heard voices telling of strange worlds where events were shaped in different directions...and I heard them calling you their brother. Indeed, the man who has given me a portion of his own strength that I might live is one such brother...and this woman who has attended me...she is my sister."

"Tofu Bonbon," the Nursing aid replied, "And my future husband, Saotome Tenma."

"It was my honor, Princess," the tall boy bowed from where he was sitting.

"Doctor," Cinnamon looked up at Tenma without releasing his hold on his beloved, "Truly you are a Healer of surpassing skills to have achieved this..."

"Not really," Tenma smiled affably, "Your lady has a very strong constitution, and an equally strong will to live. Once I negated the effects of the alkalydes that were poisoning her system I only had to restore her energy balance through some manipulation of her neural energy patterns, and then Bonbon and I loaned her a bit of our spiritual energies to replace that which had been drained out of her, and the rest was up to her. There should be no lingering problems now that we've reversed the effects of the toxin in her body."

"Nevertheless, I am in debt to you forever," Cinnamon replied, "What can I give to one who has restored the heart to my breast? I do not have access to the wealth of my Kingdom anymore, but if we were back at my palace, then I would shower you and your lady friends with jewelry and ornaments worthy of an Emperor's ransom."

"Really?" Yuan-Yen perked up, "Sounds interesting..."

"You really don't have to go to any trouble on my account," Tenma smiled as he took Bonbon's hand in his own, "I have everything that a man could ever want right here, but if you honor your pledge to protect my patient, I'd consider that a favor."

"There is one other way that you could show your gratitude," Kachima pointed out, "Just assist us in completing our quest and I feel certain that you will be compensated in fair measure..."

"Ah..." Ranko glanced down at her breast, "Guess this is a good time to bring this up, then..."

"You mean again?" Rinse looked at her oddly.

"It figures," Silver sniffed, "That Pendant thingie always seems to know just when to make a hasty exit, which is usually when we're in the middle of something..."

"I wonder where we will wind up this time?" Watazashi mused.

"I dunno," Yuan-Yen shivered, "But wherever it is, I sure hope the weather's better than it is here!"

"Beloved?" Nutmeg stared at her own hand in fascination.

"Hush, my darling," Cinnamon kept a tight grip on the girl in his arms as they faded out together, "Wherever we go, we go together, and for that alone I am enormously grateful..."

"Ah..." Ranko paused as the scenery changed from a cave to something noticeably less cheery, "I think I'd put a pause on that thought if I were you, guy..."

"What in the hell?" Silver frowned.

"Sounds like a good description," Rinse noted as she turned and looked around at a scene that could have been borrowed from the pages of an Esher nightmare, a dark and dreary landscape punctuated by spire-like peaks that stabbed the grey and dusky heavens like accusing talons, the very color of the landscape drenched in colors tinted towards the grey and the tasteless, bleeding out all hope and draining the soul of positive emotions. On the whole it was dark, grim and depressing, with a sense of lingering ennui that was bleak and barren.

"What is this place?" Bonbon wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"I don't know," Yuan-Yen frowned, "It looks like something out of an underground comic, one of those life-twisting things created by somebody in serious need of some Prozac!"

"I wonder," Kachima frowned, "This place has the aspect of something created rather than naturally occuring."

"And that means?" Silver urged.

"I believe that we have found one of the planes of Limbo," Kachima replied, "Which means that this is not really a place at all...not as we understand it. Such a realm is reflective of the personality and spiritual dimensions of whatever beings may occupy the space..."

"Are you saying somebody created this?" Tenma asked.

"It certainly is possible," Watazashi mused, "I have read about this phenomenon...a realm that does not exist under the normal conditions of time and space but rather in a space between worlds...a realm that is between dimensions. What you see is the unformed pattern of a reality that has not fully manifested...it's malleable and can be shaped by our perceptions, and...given enough time...we could possibly undo this landscape and restore it to something a little more cheerful and positive leaning."

"Wouldn't be hard," Yuan-Yen mused, "A place like this would even depress a Hibiki-hey, wait a minute! You think maybe that's who we came to find this time? Maybe Uncle Ryoga or one of his offspring..."

"Guess again," Kachima pointed, "I sense that the only living thing in this realm is directly in front of us, and if you will cast your yes that way..."

"What is this?" Cinnamon asked as he and his lady friend stood up to stare at a dimly illuminated figure, then all at once his eyes widened and he put a hand over the eyes of Nutmeg to turn her head away from the vision.

"Hey...what?" Silver pointed, "Is that...what I think it is?"

"You mean is that a guy hanging from a crucifix?" Ranko nodded, "Yeah, I see it too...but...I can't quite make out his face. Is he a Saotome?"

"He is," Kachima said quietly, "And...despite appearances...he is still very much alive. Time does not pass as we understand it in this realm, so he could have been hanging there for a year or a decade and still have life within him. You cannot grow tired or hungry when you are between states, as he is, a living ghost in your own domain, and this world is doubtlessly the product of his aching hunger."

"You sound as if you already know who he is," Cinnamon noted.

"I do," Kachima replied, turning to look at Ranko before saying, "Saotome Ryo..."

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Centennial Blooms: shadowmane

Confused already? Stick around, it gets worse! The final chapters are approaching as Ranma and crew prepare to confront the terror that is Karadon in, "Countdown to Oblivion," or "You Light Up my Life." Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	25. Chapter 25

RanCubed24

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and Others,  
including my fellow fanfic writers, Nicole Manders, Trella,  
Gregg Sharp and DB Sommers, who provided some of the characters and concepts that have appeared in this series, and to TH Tiger for his generous support and advice in the writing of this and many other projects)

Chapter Twenty-Four.

Countdown to Oblivion

Continuum # 87219654

Blue Area, Luna

Kiyone often wondered why her life had taken such curious turns that she should wind up in a virtual "marriage" to someone who once had been accounted her worst nightmare. The mere thought that she and Mihoshi could have been together for so many years would have horrified the younger version of herself, the Kiyone who once was, who had been single-mindedly career oriented and determined to let nothing stop her rise to the top spot of the Galaxy Police Bureau. To think such an annoying bubble-headed, whiny little brat could have derailed her promising career was beyond unthinkable to a rising star like Kiyone, and being partnered with the most incompetent patrolwoman in the history of the GPB was simply not conceivable. One would have to be out of their mind to think that Kiyone would stay at Mihoshi's side for one second longer than duty required would have earned a contemptuous laugh, followed shortly by a short push out of an airlock (preferably without a spacesuit). No way would she have accepted Mihoshi as anything other than a lodestone around her neck, let alone a domestic partner of close to twenty terrestrial years now standing.

"All systems primed and ready," she reported aloud, "The Cannon is building up its charge to about sixty-three percent of optimal levels. Disengaging secondary safety locks, arming main trigger and setting targeting lock to the coordinates you specified, Washu."

"Adjust your settings by point-oh-oh-three, Kiyone," Washu dutifully relayed across a thousand alternate dimensions, "Raise the altitude by nine tenths of one degree."

"Adjusting to .003, atziluth O9er, check," Kiyone responded, automatically setting the controls so that the aiming mechanism would fire at exactly the coordinate specified by her instructions.

Washu was such a perfectionist, but then again, there was something almost comforting about her near-infallible genius that Kiyone had come to rely upon, even though Washu was the primary reason she was married to Mihoshi in the first place. It had been one of Washu's experiments that had opened Kiyone's eyes to the truth about Mihoshi, a truth that forever altered her appreciation of the dusky-skinned blonde patrolwoman and gave her new insight into the true meaning behind their very odd "friendship."

"Power now at Eight-two percent and rising," Kiyone dutifully reported, "Switching to full manual control. Auto-systems locked, tertiary systems primed, back up and reserve power fully online, all systems checking in the green. We are ready to go once maximum power levels are achieved."

"Hold for my signal," Washu urged, "I've programmed in a nine second delay before firing so as to adjust for any last minute corrections, but once you pull that trigger, the won't be any stopping or turning back. We only have one chance to do this, so be sure to get it right."

"Check," Kiyone replied, "Awaiting signal as per your mark."

It had puzzled Kiyone for the longest time how a total airhead like Mihoshi could have even gotten on the Galaxy Police, let alone racked up an impressive record of arrests while still a rookie patrolwoman. They had been partnered up during Mihoshi's third year of service and Kiyone's second, making the blonde the senior partner (an irony seeing as how often Kiyone felt more like her baby-  
sitter than the "Rookie" officer on their team). Her first impression of Mihoshi had been that of a total space-brain, a fumbling, childish emotional basket case whose irritation factor was only exceeded by her total dependence on Kiyone for the least little bit of emotional support. How in the name of all that was holy had someone like that gotten past the filtering process of the Academy? It could not just be the fact that her Grandfather was the GPB's Grand Marshal!

And yet, checking back on Mihoshi's records, Kiyone was astonished to discover that her partner had graduated at the top of her class and achieved high honors in all of her major subjects. She had been an aggressive go-getter out to prove her worth to the Galaxy Police by taking on the toughest and most dangerous assignments, rather like Kiyone herself when you came right down to it. She was a top-rated pilot, a first-rate crack shot and a skilled investigator...indeed, in every category the exact opposite of the girl Kiyone knew from first hand experience, who could fall asleep on duty and dream about food and forget which sock went with which foot and simply drive Kiyone to distraction!

Talking to those who had known Mihoshi before Kiyone had produced even more confusing results. At first Kiyone had been working on the theory that their superiors were covering up for the shocking embarrassment that Mihoshi must have posed for the Grand Marshal. That theory went out the airlock when Kiyone had heard first-hand accounts of people who had seen Mihoshi in action and were impressed by her achievements. Once again they seemed to be describing a wholly different person than the woman Kiyone knew from daily first-hand experience. It had driven her crazy with trying to reconcile the total contradiction and the paradox that was Mihoshi, a girl who could stumble over her own shadow and yet somehow play a significant role in bringing down such wanted desperados as Kagato and Doctor Klaw. What was one to make of such a baffling enigma?

And then Washu had supplied the answer, one so obvious that Kiyone had marveled that she had never even suspected it from the very beginning. Always in those interviews with other Galaxy Patrolmen there had been an implied "but" to their glowing testimony. Mihoshi had indeed been the rising star of the Bureau, BUT-  
-and always there was this unspoken, implied BUT to their statements-it seemed as if they were saying, "That was Mihoshi then, but now...isn't it a pity?"

A flashing red light drew her attention back to the display terminal and Kiyone spoke once again into the relays, "Dimensional Cannon has reached full charge, Washu. It is now primed and ready to fire. Removing final safeties, weapon armed and active, awaiting your instructions to fire."

"Hold and be ready, Kiyone," Washu said, "Check the timer scope to your left...it should be counting down to termination point. I've made all the necessary calculations, now it's up to you to pull the trigger."

"Roger that," Kiyone said, "Standing by and awaiting countdown."

Washu had been the one to uncover the truth behind that "BUT" that had been eluding Kiyone. It seemed that Mihoshi had indeed been the Galaxy Police's most aggressive go-getter, so much so that she had dared pursue one dangerous case too many. A rogue scientist-a real Kagato wannabe-had captured Mihoshi investigating too near to his secret lair and decided to "experiment a little" with the overly adventuresome policewoman. Mihoshi had endured three days of hideous experiments designed to explore her neural pathways in order to discover what it was that made her such an outstanding Detective, but in the end Mihoshi had managed to break free and turn the tables on her captor. Backup had arrived to find Mihoshi idly playing with biochips taken from computer that had been used to record her "test data," only she was treating them like domino-chips. She was rushed to the nearest infirmary for observation and was given a clean bill of health...at least so far as things went on the physical side of things.

Mentally, though, she had suffered a severe neurological trauma that had scrambled her synaptic relays and had reduced her to an almost childlike state of neo-infancy. Psychological counseling was immediately referred and the slow process undertaken to rebuild her personality and mental functions. They had managed to restore her to an operational state but were unable to totally clear up the randomly misfiring synaptic relays affecting her higher brain functions. Technically her brainwave scans were off the charts as far as mental activity, but so much of it was re-routed and convoluted that coherent thought patterns could not be fully reestablished. Mihoshi was mentally the age of a twelve year old yet still retained much of her knowledge and combat abilities, so with great reluctance (and in honor of her high record of achievement) the Brass had elected to return her to field service, hoping to let her eventually retire with honor so as not to embarrass the Marshal.

Oddly enough Mihoshi's record for outstanding arrests-to the astonishment of nearly everyone-continued to skyrocket, only this time she seemed to solve cases almost by a whimsy, blundering her way through cases that would daunt the toughest investigators, relying more and more on pure "dumb luck" to get her through situations where there was almost a zero percentage chance at survival. This "Fluky-Luke" effect (Washu had coined the term based on an old Cartoon character) appeared to be the product of a latent mental ability that Mihoshi appeared to have developed as an indirect consequence of her mental aberrations. Washu hypothesized that Mihoshi had gained the ability to alter probability lines on a purely unconscious level, causing seemingly random events to work out in her favor, a survival reflex of which she was wholly unaware. It was this factor that had drawn Mihoshi to Earth and brought her into contact with Tenchi, Princess Ayeka and the Space Pirate, Ryoko, allies who were able to help Mihoshi complete her assignment of "dealing" with Kagato. It had also gotten her through many other scrapes where the possibility of success was infinitesimally small, an ability that still served Mihoshi to this day, though never had she been able to consciously control this power or make it work on command.

Of course merely postulating this as a theory was never enough for someone as inquisitive as Washu. Having discovered the reason why Mihoshi was such a "feather-head," Washu set about devising a "cure" that could neutralizing the randomizing effect and restore Mihoshi to the level of competence that she once had enjoyed. Washu created a form of "Nanotech" bug that could seek out and correct the misdirected and misfiring neural passages and had gotten Mihoshi to swallow them (by cleverly sprinkling them on some of her breakfast wafers), and after an initial "awkward" period (during which Mihoshi had appeared as though she were taking up break dancing) she had seemed to respond to the therapy and started immediately showing results, her thought patterns reforming in a stable pattern and her regaining the ability to remember things for more than five consecutive seconds.

The result was a Mihoshi who astonished everyone who even thought they knew her. Overnight she went from embarrassing to intimidating, becoming aggressive and self-assertive for the first time since Kiyone had known her and at once assuming the top spot in their partnership with an incisive intelligence that was more than a little daunting. Kiyone suddenly found herself with a Mihoshi who could not only carry her own weight but who actually seemed to be holding herself back to allow Kiyone to keep pace with her, a Mihoshi who would constantly interrupt or correct her and point out little details that Kiyone herself had missed during an investigation. This Mihoshi was a bit more ruthless and a lot more daring, able to quote regulations verbatim and never missing a beat in a conversation.

In other words she was more than a little scary!

It didn't last, of course...but while she had her mind working on even channels she was a wonder to behold, a force to be reckoned with and easily the best officer whom Kiyone had ever met. At the height of a major crisis, though, her intelligence and coherency began to falter, that Nannites losing their grip and gradually burning out from the strain of trying to keep all neural regions firing in sequence. The damage that had been done to her was more extensive even than Washu had realized and the "old" pattern was reasserting itself, like in that Terran novel called "Flowers for Algernon" that Kiyone had once read through. Under pressure and intense fire by an enemy named Yakage (yet another of Washu's former assistants turned rogue...Kiyone privately thought the Mad Genius needed to use better application standards for testing her prospective employees) those microscopic Neural-Enhancers began to flare out and falter with alarming rapidity, and there-facing almost certain death together-Kiyone witnessed the "old" Mihoshi making a valiant comeback. It was tensely emotional scene for the both of them, but no less for what Mihoshi would say as she gradually lost the ability to think coherently all over.

"I know what you think of me, Kiyone!" Mihoshi had wailed, "I know you think I'm a crybaby and a coward, that I'm slow and I trip over my own shadow, but I've been trying...I've been trying really hard to keep up with you. You think I want to go back to what I was? You think I want you to hate me for what I've become? Don't you know how much I've always looked up to you, how much I depend on you? What my life would be like without you...?"

It was a moment of stunning revelation, the discovery that Mihoshi was in love with her, had always been in love but had never really known how to show it or to win back Kiyone's affections. Their partnership was in more than name as far as Kihoshi was concerned, and even while super-intelligent she had been expressing her support and desire for Kiyone, albeit in ways that actually turned Kiyone away, producing the irony of a Mihoshi who made Kiyone feel slow, incompetent and stupid! Suddenly the prospect of having the old Mihoshi back did not seem like such a terrible thing, and when contrasted to the other Mihoshi...well...things that had used to annoy Kiyone no longer seemed all that important.

Which, in a very obvious way, was extremely ironic, even funny after a fashion, because up until that incident, had anyone ever bothered to ask Kiyone what she thought about her partner, she would have declared in no uncertain terms that she HATED the little twerp, that she despised her with an overriding, overwhelming intensity, blaming her for the loss of her career, the ruining of her life and the destruction of whatever passed for order in Kiyone's formerly neat and tidy little existence...

Perhaps Hate was not strong enough a term...in truth Kiyone had utterly and completely LOATHED Mihoshi for the scores of incidents where the bubble-headed dweeb had gotten the both of them in and out of more jams than any ten Jinxes Kiyone could name. She still remembered that incident when she had been marooned for two months in that mad scientist's lair without food or water, somehow sustained by the "Ultra Energy Matter" deposits that had powered a device that would have been used to destroy a good chunk of the Milkyway Galaxy had it successfully exploded. She remembered vowing that she would personally choke the life out of Mihoshi, even as she used her own socks to collect moisture from the reserve power cells of the device in order to wet her parched lips until a passing cruiser found and rescued her (and wasn't it just dandy that the ship turned out to be a Slave Cruiser out to "recruit fresh talent" like herself? Oh, and the joy she had getting herself out of that predicament...yes...she certainly owed Mihoshi for that one! Too bad circumstances had prevented her from collecting...)

Where had the Hate all gone, she wondered? When had she stopped resenting Mihoshi and the ceased cursing the fates that had brought them both together? To where had all the loathing and disgust flown off? When had Kiyone actually started to be genuinely concerned about her welfare? Having finally come to an understanding of the working dynamics that underlay Mihoshi's seeming incompetence, Kiyone finally understood the true nature of her partner, and in the light of the revelation of Mihoshi's desire for her, it became impossible for Kiyone to go on hating the little idiot, and in fact that was when Kiyone began to really and truly appreciate Mihoshi as a person.

How odd it was that she could even come to return that love that Mihoshi fairly radiated once she started to see Mihoshi's good qualities, the fact that she really was a good and decent person who meant well and never intentionally brought harm to another. There was just enough of the "Smart" Mihoshi underneath the fluff to make her acceptable as a partner, but once Kiyone started to see her in a different light she found herself becoming more protective and nurturing towards the other woman, even defending her against attacks and slanders made against her personal integrity. From there it was a short step to realizing things that she had never been consciously aware about Mihoshi, such as the color of her eyes, the way the sun reflected off her hair, the sky complexion that made her seem both sensual and quixotic...like a spirit of air and fire made all-too-solidly flesh...

Ah yes...and then there was again Washu's next little surprise when she decided to combine DNA strands so that the two of them could have a very special "Wedding Present" when the two of them had "sealed" themselves into a promised union. Little Kihoshi had been the surprise (read: ASTONISHMENT) of her parent's lives, but over the years that they had watched her grow to young adulthood they had found every emotion in the book to describe their mutual daughter. Kiyone shared the distinction of being labeled a "FAMA" (Father-  
Mother) with Ryoko, who had known similar such joys in the person of Ryeka, and wasn't it just a dandy comment on her femininity for Kiyone to realize that she was someone's biological Father! Still and all, Kihoshi was everything that she would have ever wanted in a daughter, and despite the periodic aggravations, she was proud at how her child had turned out. Kihoshi embodied the best that was in both parents, and she even seemed to have inherited her mother's Latent Probability Altering talent, albeit she did seem to have some limited control over her ability. It even did Kiyone's heart proud upon discovering that her daughter had developed a budding interest in the young Prince Teneka.

Kiyone smiled to herself as she thought about Washu, the instigator of so much mischief. That whole business with enhancing Mihoshi's intelligence had been intended to put a halt in the Blonde's constant disruptions of her experiments and Mihoshi's almost compulsive habit of pushing the wrong buttons and destroying Washu's inventions. Instead she had created a Mihoshi who fully understood Washu's devices and the implications for their possible uses and had promptly arrested her on the spot! (It still gave Kiyone a gleeful chuckle to recall Washu's rather dumbfounded expression on that occasion!) Then when Kihoshi came of age enough to crawl around on her own she kept getting into Washu's lab despite the most elaborate attempts of the Mad Genius to prevent this, and as Kihoshi grew in stature her ability to penetrate Washu's defenses had only grown more intrusive. It got to the point where Washu had to virtually take Kihoshi on as a lab assistant in order to curb her tendencies to meddle, and still all that did was allowed Kihoshi to even further penetrate her security and cause even more mischief! Yes indeed, Kiyone was justifiably proud of her kid and considered her the best deterrent to Mad Geniuses everywhere that had ever been herself hatched in a laboratory.

Right now her "Kid" was with Prince Teneka on a dangerous mission assigned by Washu, and yet Kiyone was the very picture of calm and collected, not a scatterbrained basket case like Kihoshi's mother would be, this in spite of the fact that they were now on an orbiting satellite that just happened to be the target of the Dimensional Cannon. Washu had assured Kiyone that her daughter and the others would be evacuated before the final minute, and Kiyone trusted Washu's judgement as she would few others...

Nonetheless...it was a pretty nail-biting affair calling for a razor-thin margin of error. Kiyone could not totally avoid feeling a slight shudder as she watched the timer count out the minutes and seconds that remained until the final moment when she would pull the trigger and set in motion one of the most destructive inventions of Washu's considerable arsenal. She prayed Kihoshi and the others would not be there when the cannon's beam hit the target, or else...

Or else she would never be able to look Kihoshi's mother in the eye again, and that-surprising as it was-was a thought too unbearable to be contemplated.

"Hold on kids," Kiyone said tensely, "I know you can do it...I believe in you, Kihoshi..."

And somewhere else in time, Washu heard this silent acknowledgement and nodded her head in token agreement. Sasami/Tsunami also heard Kiyone's words and shared them in her thoughts, while on the asteroid itself a certain blonde haired figure did not hear the words but sneezed just the same, then rubbed her nose in mild irritation...

Roll Call:

Kihoshi Kuramitsu -Daughter of Mihoshi and Kiyone, Apprenticed Galaxy Detective Teneka Masaki -Son of Ayeka and Tenchi, Kendo Master of the Wings of the Light Hawk

"Darn it!" Kihoshi complained, "Must be some dust or something in here...a fine time to be allergic..."

"What was that?" Teneka asked as the boy sliced through one of several stone giants who were converging upon them, his Light Hawk sword cleaving stone like it was paper, "I'm kind of busy, I didn't quite hear you..."

"Never mind," Kihoshi called over her shoulder, "You just keep those guys busy for another minute, Ten-chan...I'm almost done here working the combination."

"Well, I don't mean to hurry you or anything," the Juraian Prince called back as he blocked a stone club and shattered it into gravel, "But could you hurry it up? These guys mean serious business."

"You're doing just fine, Ten-chan," Kihoshi smiled, "I know those guys aren't any real trouble for-ah! I did it!"

The huge metal doors to the safe-like vault that had been blocking their path swung silently open with the ponderousness of something thick and incredibly massive. Inside was a chamber well lit and filled with devices, giving every impression of being some kind of network control center.

"Good work, Kihoshi!" Teneka said cheerfully, "Now give me a moment to finish these clowns off and I'll join you!"

With that declaration the boy turned his full attention towards his stone-like attackers, and suddenly the word in his hand glowed more brightly and grew to twice its length, and with a single slash he cleared the cavern of all remaining opponents.

Kihoshi flinched slightly as the flash of energy disintegrated the enemy soldiers in one searing blast of his Light Hawk sword. She knew Teneka was only using a fraction of his real power so as not to bring down the entire cavern, but even so it could be quite daunting to realize the hidden power of Jurai that the boy contained hidden within in, only to be displayed at crucial times such as this.

When the flash died down and silence filled the air in place of the din of battle there was an unsettling aftermath where the light died down and Teneka's sword faded from his hand, no longer needed. Kihoshi uncovered her ears and said, "Wow...that sure did the trick."

"Sorry," Teneka said as he turned around, "I didn't want to distract you by doing that sooner. Let's go and finish Grandmother's assignment."

"Right," Kihoshi said, taking a step forward towards the vault, only to jump back rapidly as an energy beam struck the place where her foot had been set, "YIKES!"

"Stand behind me," Teneka declared as he moved forward, and Kihoshi dutifully fell in place behind the handsome boy as miniature logs filled the air around them and formed a protective shield that caught and deflected the beams that sought to claim them. Teneka moved forward and ignored the defensive measures set in place for just such an intrusion, and with Kihoshi making sure to stay as close to him as she could manage they fully entered the chamber and found the central control podium. At a glance he studied these controls then said, "This looks like what Grandmother told us to look out for. Can you handle these devices?"

"Sure," Kihoshi moved around him and smiled as she saw the shiny buttons, flashing lights and other controls that were so typical of the sort of high-tech equipment she liked to play with in the lab of her Aunt Washu, "This must be what's controlling the dimension-shield thingie that made it so hard for us to get close to this satellite."

"Can you switch it off?" Teneka asked, "I sure don't want to get stuck here when your Fama fires off the Dimensional Cannon."

"Well, Washu said to just do what I normally do when I'm given a control panel," Kihoshi smiled, "So...I might as well have fun like she told me."

Teneka winced slightly. Knowing how Kihoshi and anything technological fared, he had a creeping hunch that something very spectacular was about to happen...

Roll Call:

Nabiki Saotome -Time Patrol Dispatcher, Lore Master Freya Kuno -Goddess of Love and Battles, Valkyrie Lyn Reikou Kuno -Daughter of Freya and Kuno, Valkyrie in Training Sayo Sanosuke -Daughter of Kasumi and Ranma, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Hiroshi Honsamu -Son of Maki and Takai of the Dark World, Exorcist Ganymede Kuonji -Son of Makoto and Ukyo, Senshi in Training Shanma Saotome -Daughter of Shampoo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Mace Saotome -Son of Shampoo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Kinko Kuonji -Daughter of Akane and Ukyo, part-time Angel Adam Saotome -Son of Ranma and Azusa, Cyborg Moira Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Azusa, Cyborg Muku Dori Senzenen -Daughter of Akane and Mikado, Iczellion Warrior, partner to Rhea Rhea Kano -Iczer Four, daughter of Nagisa and Iczer-One

"Auntie," Muku Dori remarked as they continued on their way down the cavern, "Does it feel to you like this place...well..."

"Like we are walking down the throat of a great beast?" Nabiki responded, "Yes, that impression is rather difficult to avoid, isn't it? I wish that I could give you a more reassuring appraisal, children, but the facts are there and there's no sense in softening the crisis we are facing."

"Putting it a little blunt aren't we, Sugar?" Freya asked, "Might want to give these tykes a little encouragement. After all, we're most likely headed into major trouble, and with a war party this size a little unit cohesion wouldn't be such a bad thing. We're a Baker's Dozen easy, and half these kids have never met before, let alone know what all they're capable of doing in a fight."

"True enough," Nabiki said, calling back over her shoulder, "All of you are trained fighters, I can tell that at a glance, but as of right now we're one solid team and on the same side. Keep that in mind and don't get too far out of sight of one another. The person fighting at your side is your shield arm, and you cover them like you'd want them to cover your backs, does everyone understand that?"

There was a considerable activity of everyone glancing at everyone else, with new faces being of keen interest to those who already knew their own closest companions, but then Rhea answered the question aloud and said, "Understood, Aunt Nabiki. We will fight as one team and defend one another with our lives."

"Just don't get in my way when it gets intense," Lyn said, "I need plenty of elbow room if I'm going to fight at my best."

"Then don't stand in my way when I start blasting the suckers," Muku Dori responded, "Freya and me tend to clear a room when we really get cooking."

"Everyone listen to Aunt Nabiki," Ganymede said forcefully, still carrying the cat-girl, Shanma in his arms as her ankle was still too swollen to support weight, "She's totally right about us having to work together like a family unit. I don't know much about what's going on here, but it's pretty obvious that it's us against just about anything that's out there, and the last thing we need is to go stumbling into each other's way or trying to play hero and hog the spotlight. We fight as a team, and anyone who comes at us is the bad guy, you got that?"

"I'm with you, Big Bro," Kinko said, "Some of us may fight better with a little room to flap our wings, but if we go off and fight separately we're more likely to leave a hole in our defenses."

"Getting awfully assertive, aren't you?" Shanma mused of her hermaphrodite suitor.

"Just giving the same speech my mom would be giving me about now," Ganymede smiled, "You should hear what my cousins are like when we get together for a Senshi reunion."

"Just the same," Shanma said, "Maybe you should put me down when you start fighting. I can handle myself, you know..."

"Not a chance, Beautiful," Ganymede smiled, "Until the swelling goes down you're going to need someone to cover your back, and I might as well volunteer for the job since you matter more to me than anything else in this world or any other."

"Laying it on a little thick are we?" Mace glared, his feline features twitching in irritation at the flirtations the Boy-girl was playing to his older sister.

"Just saying it like it is, Kid," Ganymede replied, holding a surprised Shanma even closer to his full-breasted bosom.

"Stop calling me Kid," Mace snarled, "You ain't that much older than me..."

"Shut up, Kid," Kinko said with less heat than amusement in her voice.

"Auntie," Sayo spoke up, "Will father be all right? I know he is very powerful, but that creature..."

"Dragon," Adam corrected.

"You mean Herb?" Nabiki asked, "Not to worry, Ranma knows what he's doing there. You don't need to worry about him handling himself against the likes of that fellow. After all, it's not exactly like it's the first time the two of them have met in battle."

"Awfully confident of your Man, aren't you?" Freya asked.

"Ranma is far from perfect," Nabiki said, "But I know him better than anyone else alive, and I know what he's capable of, what he'd do in a situation such as this. At heart he's still the same guy I met over twenty odd years ago, the lost and lonely boy who showed up in his cursed form slung over the shoulder of a panda on my doorstep. He always tries to do the right thing, he never gives up or surrenders to adversity, and he NEVER loses, ever."

"Never?" Lyn Reikou asked curiously.

"Never," Nabiki said confidently, "Maybe at one time he could afford to lose the occasional odd match, in which case he'd regroup his resources, rally his confidence, study his opponent's strengths and weaknesses, then come back for the second round and inevitably triumph. The only one who ever proved daunting was Pantsaru Taro, and that's largely because he was older and more experienced with a curse that turned him into a real monster. Once Ranma mastered enough techniques he was able to leave even Taro in the dust..."

"Is it all about Techniques, Lady Saotome?" Hiroshi asked, "I sensed a power in your husband that went well beyond anything that I'd think a natural born human could gain through study and practice."

"True," Nabiki said, "But you have to understand the sort of roads that Ranma and I have followed to get where we are today. There's been pain, loss and sacrifice all the way, and in the end he paid a terrible price to achieve ultimate victory over death itself. He's like finely tempered steel, blade-  
sharp and honed to a lethal edge, and anyone who stands in his way is going to meet his maker very shortly."

"You sound almost proud of that, Auntie," Muku Dori remarked.

"I'm not sure if Pride is the right word," Nabiki said, "But yes...I am proud of Ranma, for all that he hasn't had the easier road to tread...or me either for that matter."

"I'm not sure that I understand," Adam said, "Moira and I are still getting used to this concept about alternate realities with different histories..."

"But how can Father be more powerful as a human than we are as Cyborgs?" Moira finished for her brother.

"The answer to that is far from simple," Nabiki replied, "Though it's plain that things happened differently on your world, on our world Ranma was originally married my little sister, Akane..."

"What-my mom?" Muku Dori reacted.

"What do you mean your mom?" Kinko said, "Go on, Auntie...I've already heard this story, but I think these other guys need to know what happened to make Uncle Ranma go over the edge like that."

"Over the edge," Nabiki sniffed, "Actually that term should more properly go to my sister. You see...in our version of reality, my little sister was suffering from an undiagnosed condition called Rage Syndrome. She literally could not control her temper and would get angry at only the most minimal provocation. It was a condition that got exacerbated during their long and protracted courtship, when anything Ranma did or said to deny his feelings of growing attraction for Akane only served to drive a further wedge in their relationship. It was as much his fault as her own...his upbringing had taught him to treat confrontation the same as courtship, but Akane never really understood what motivated him to push her away and insult her more often than pay her the compliments she wanted to hear. Before too long she distrusted him even when he was being nice to her, and as many times as he saved her life she could never fully accept the feelings that were growing between them."

"Well," Freya remarked, "I can tell you from experience that trust is a pretty essential component to any relationship, and living without it...well...can lead to some pretty spectacular-but rarely successful-marriages."

"Precisely," Nabiki resumed, "Every battle that forged stronger ties of love between them only served to increase the distrust Akane felt towards her own feelings. Ranma tried to make their relationship work...tried harder and longer than any sane man would have attempted in his place, but it was too little and too late. The sum accumulation of past slights and irritations magnified even the slightest transgression on his part so that Akane interpreted his actions in their most negative contest. This slow mental torture gradually forced her over the edge until she finally snapped. On their wedding night she manifested the first real signs of her dawning madness, and every day for a year that followed she grew worse and worse, the demons tormenting her until she finally turned homicidal."

"No...not mom!" Muku protested, "She'd never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it!"

"I feel the same way about my mom," Kinko sympathized, "But this version went psycho, like the one who was Ranko's mother."

"I think there's more to your story than you're telling us, Sugar," Freya remarked, "I can feel waves of guilt coming out of you, and I hardly think you were just an innocent bystander."

"Good guess," Nabiki said, "And you're right, I wasn't innocent. I had as much to do with what happened as anyone. It's taken me twenty years to live down my part in the affair, but I've finally managed to put it all behind me, so I might as well tell you the darkest sins of my own past. The truth is that I encouraged Akane and Ranma to get together, I even went out of my way to arrange circumstances so that they would be forced to admit the true depth of their feelings for one another. I manipulated, bargained, arm-twisted and connived to insure that Ranma chose only Akane and none other of his many fianc es, all while remaining on the sidelines and out of the limelight. Those few times I actually stood out and took an active role in affairs, I made sure that I came across as a totally heartless bitch who on cared about money and simply saw the affair between the two of them as an opportunity for exploitation..."

"But why?" Sayo asked.

"Because I was in denial that I had any feelings," Nabiki said, "And I was full of pride in myself and my abilities to out-think anyone at the time. I was smarter than the fools throwing their lives away in senseless battles and I thought I knew everything. I thought making Ranma and Akane see how much they cared for each other would be enough to get them to stop fighting...instead I only made things worse, and-worse even still-I drove a further wedge in Akane's mind. I failed to see her madness as it was growing, and then...when I saw what she was slowly turning into...I lost all nerve and ceased trying. In the end I failed my little sister, and was witness to the tragedy when she attempted to murder Ranma but got Ukyo instead in the bargain."

"My...Fama?" Ganymede softly exclaimed.

"No way!" Muku shook her head violently, "Mom would never do a thing like that! Not to Aunt Ukyo..."

"You're forgetting that she wasn't really your mother," Nabiki said, "She was one alternate version who went bad...and eventually she had to be institutionalized on a suicide watch. I failed and betrayed my sister by not getting her the help she needed, and I failed Ranma even more because I didn't offer him the support he needed. So you see...I am ashamed of what I was and what I did back then, and all because I was trying to escape from a truth that I was blind to..."

"The truth that you were in love yourself with Ranma," Freya smirked, "Can't hide that truth from me. You had a big crush on the boy and you couldn't even admit it."

"Not exactly," Nabiki said, "I found him...fascinating...in a boorish, unpolished and unmannered sort of way. He was the most exciting thing to ever enter my life, but to me he was just a penniless financial sinkhole who had all the charm and grace of a warthog. Yes, I saw that he was heroic with a rude kind of nobility, and I thought he was cute in a clueless kind of manner. He wasn't a pervert, like every other boy in our school, even though Akane accused him of being one because of his curse and the...unfortunate way in which they were introduced to one another. I saw him hurt and bleed many times, I saw him fight relentlessly, and I saw how he attracted the attention of every girl in our school, even if he never consciously did anything to encourage the girls to fight over him the way they did. I thought him a brainless barbarian who was rude, conceited and obnoxious, and I never thought he'd amount to anything but another mooching washout, like his father..."

"And in spite of all that you still loved him," Ganymede murmured.

"Yes," Nabiki glanced down, "I was a fool and too proud to face the facts, and if anything I was in love with him BECAUSE of all my objections. I was a flawed and imperfect being floundering around in search of something to believe in. I had my life all mapped out in my head, and I thought I could control my own destiny. The last thing I wanted was to chain my destiny to a pig-headed fool who wanted nothing more in life than to be the toughest thug on the block. I had all sorts of reasons why I shouldn't care about him or any of the troubles he got himself into...him and that brainless panda of a father of his, so imagine my mental state when I saw his marriage to Akane turn into shambles. All that time I'd been criticizing Ranma for denying his true feelings, and I was guilty of far worse. I was a hypocrite and a fool, and because of my cowardice my sister and family suffered. My own father suffered traumatically and his health faltered. It was on his deathbed that he forced me to promise that I would take up the cause of uniting the houses by marrying Ranma..."

"So that's why you two got hitched, eh?" Freya asked.

"Yes, but it took many years before we could put our mutual pasts behind us," Nabiki said, "At times I couldn't even look at him without feeling the weight of my guilt crash down on me like a lead weight. The loss of my whole family shook me to the core and destroyed my fragile self-image as a rising mover and shaker. I dropped out of college and began to search for something to believe...and by turns I wound up in the village of Joketsuzoku at Cologne's invitation. It was there that I met the woman who would shape my life and cause me to discard the old me forever..."

"The Lore Master Lotion?" Shanma asked.

"Yes," Nabiki glanced at the purple furred cat-girl, "Did you know her?"

"No," Mace replied, "She...died before any of us were born."

"I see," Nabiki turned and stared at the ground again, "A pity. She was like a second mother to me. I can never forget the way she could stare right through me to the very soul and draw something out of me that I didn't even know was there to begin with. It was because of her that I finally found the courage to seek out Ranma and bring him back into the world, and then the two of us got involved with the Time Patrol...but that's a whole different story. All that matters is that I'm not the woman that I once was, nor is Ranma the innocent young boy I fell in love with. We've...rediscovered ourselves and come together in a new sense...we know each other well and we have pledged ourselves in ways our fathers never even dreamed possible. Our future is only just beginning now, but it won't end here in these caverns, of that you have my word."

"We know that, Auntie," Kinko smiled, "You know, you're a lot like the Aunt Nabiki I know, but it does sound like you had a pretty tough life."

"It's had it's ups and downs," Nabiki shrugged, then sniffed, "Listen to me ramble on like an old midwife. Not much of a pep rally, and it doesn't have all that much to do with the coming struggle against Karadon and his minions."

"Oh, I dunno, Sugar," Freya said, "It's easy to forget what there is to fight for if all you think about is fighting. I think your husband knows that better than anybody."

"Could be you're right," Nabiki replied, when all of a sudden a huge explosion shook the halls, causing everyone to bend their knees and brace themselves to maintain their balance.

The explosion only lasted a few seconds, but when it had passed, Lyn Reikou cried, "What was that?"

"Was if father fighting with the Dragon?" Sayo asked.

"No," Nabiki replied, frowning slightly, "I sense...different forces at play here...another powerful struggle between contending parties."

"Whatever it is, it came from pretty close nearby," Ganymede reckoned, "I think we ought to keep moving to where ever it is we're headed, Aunt Nabiki, just in case it gets any closer."

"Sounds reasonable," Freya move, "That agree with your call, Nabs?"

"Why is everyone suddenly calling me that?" Nabiki growled, "I hate that nick-  
name. But...yes...I sense that we are very close to our goal. It's just down the passage that we'll find what we came here to discover."

"I'll scout on ahead, Mom," Lyn Reikou said, then like a flash of lightning she accelerated forward, becoming little more than a blur to the naked eye.

"Whoah!" Mace exclaimed, "Now that's fast!"

"How did she do that?" Moira asked, "Even Michael and I can't move like that."

"You think that's something?" Freya smirked, "You should see her do an end run around the Giants' defense."

"MOM!" Lyn Reikou called from further down the corridor, "I think you guys had better come down here quick!"

Nabiki and Freya exchanged glances, then the party hurried on ahead to cover the remaining distance, only to come to a complete halt as they caught up to where Lyn Reikou was standing still, gaping in awe at something directly ahead of her, which turned out to be a huge cavernous chamber that extended up and down for an immense distance in both directions. At the center of this cavern was a strange column of quasi-organic nature that stretched like a slick ball of spider-twine suspended at both ends of the cavern. It was balled near to the center, and a tiny human figure was wound up there and attached to the side, partially imbedded in a manner that cause Nabiki and Freya to start as it was identical to the position they themselves had been in only moments before, though this was not what held their interest as they stared in mutual disbelief at the entrapped figure.

"What the heck is that thing?" Mace asked.

"I dunno," Shanma murmured, "But if the spider who made it shows up, I'm leaving!"

"I think you both had better look a little closer," Ganymede urged with a nod, "That guy in the ball looks familiar, don't you think?"

"Huh?" Muku exclaimed, sheltering her eyes.

"Oh dear," Rhea said, her visual powers far more acute.

"I don't believe it," Adam exclaimed, "It's..."

"Father!" Moira cried out

"My-our father?" Sayo self-corrected.

"Oh my," Hiroshi declared as he and the others gazed upon the red and black-  
suited figure of a young man with dark hair who seemed in most respects to resemble the leather-clad Time Cop of his acquaintance.

"Ranma..." Nabiki whispered.

"Or one version of him anyway," Freya nodded, "I think, Sugar, that we just hit the jack pot..."

Roll Call:

Ryoma Saotome -Son of Ukyo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Inaho and Mosquiton the Vampire, 1/8th Vampyr Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Shampoo and Konatsu, Mage/Wicca in training Tachi Kuno -Son of Nabiki and Tatewaki, Nampo Kendo Ryu Efreet Mizuhara -Adopted daughter of Ifurita and Makoto, Demon-Goddess Minos Tarot -Son of Kasumi and Pantsaru, Shotokan Ryu Onnama Saotome -Daughter of Tatewaki and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Touga Kuno -Son of Ranma and Tatewaki, Daimyo, Kendo Master Ryonosuke Senzenen -Son of (?) and Mikado Senzenen, Family Retainer Xandar Kurunei -Son of Kaori and Sasuke, House Ninja Yoriko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and (?), House Ninja

"For what it is worth, Minos-san," Tarot said, "You did the right thing by leaving her back there to fight on her own..."

"Stuff it, Kenzan," Minos growled, "I know I did the right thing. Ain't no way I can help back there, not against that guy, but you think I wanna be reminded that I'm nothing more than a handicap? She'll fight better without me, but it sinks in my craw to have to admit it."

"Still and all, it takes a brave man to admit his limitations," Touga replied, "I, too, am humbled that you could allow the woman you care for to fight her battles on her own terms. Such trust speaks volumes for your character, and it also makes you a more interesting ally."

"I just hope your girl's as good as she thinks she is," Ryoma said, "That guy's got a lot of raw power on his side, and I don't like the way he could just play with us like we were nothing."

"I know," Carmine winced, "Whatever that was back there, an illusion, whatever, it sure was hideously real enough for my tastes!"

"Yeah," Efreet complained, "I can still remember what it felt like feeling my body blow up like that, like I was turned into some kind of explosive gel or something. Whoever that guy was, he was a real monster!"

"Try not to dwell on it, people," Tachi urged, "At the moment we've got more important things to be worried about..."

"Indeed," Ryonosuke replied, glancing at the floating energy-disk conjured up by the self-described Witch in their midst, Tarot, "We have injured to attend to, and there is no telling how long Yoriko and Xandar will last without the services of a healer."

"Yeah, how are they doing?" Onnama noted, "That guy really did a number on them, you think they've got any chance of pulling through this?"

"They have a chance," Tarot replied, "A very slim one, but as Lord Touga and Ryonosuke have said, they need proper medical attention, and that is beyond the scope of my power base. A healer could repair their internal injuries, repair the rupturing of vital organs, even staunch whatever internal bleeding they may be suffering. It pains me to look upon such a valiant pair and know that the best that I can do is to try and ease their final moments."

"They must live," Touga said urgently, "I could never forgive myself if they perished to no good purpose while in my service. We have been together since childhood and I...respect their abilities and value their service. I do not have enough of those whom I might call friends that I can afford to squander them this way."

"We're all with you on that one, Prince," Ryoma replied, "But try and stay sharp, this ain't no place to be getting' complacent. We got enemies here, and that guy we met's probably just the first one. From here they'll probably get way lots tougher."

"No way!" Onnama replied, "Tougher than that creep?"

"It is theoretically possible," Ryonosuke replied, "Though difficult to conceive."

"I sure hope you guys are wrong about that," Minos said, "I'm feeling inadequate enough as it is."

"Cheer up," Tachi replied, "We're still a pretty lively and formidable lot, so I wouldn't write us out just now..."

"Hold up a minute," Carmine raised a hand and cape to an abrupt halt, "There's somebody just ahead of us...I can feel the heat patterns radiating off of their bodies."

"Can you be sure of that?" Tachi asked, "It's not too well illuminated in these passageways, and the corridor is slight curving..."

"She's sure," Efreet assured, "I can feel it too...there's a huge power reading directly ahead off us and slightly off to the right...three large Bio-energy signatures and one huge piece of technology, all of them right off the scale. I'd say we were headed into some real trouble this time, guys."

"Not necessarily," Tarot remarked, "I sense great power ahead of us, but it doesn't feel like the hostile sort. The only feelings of malevolence that I'm feeling is coming from the device in the next chamber. I think the two living beings up ahead are allies."

"I trust your instincts, but we ought be ready...just in case," Ryoma cautioned as they rounded the bend and came out into a much larger chamber.

There, indeed, they found two figures awaiting them, a tall girl with unruly black hair done up in a warrior's braid standing next to a blue-haired girl whose hair was even more unkempt, both of them dressed in unusual looking attire, one a martial arts gi bearing the "Anything Goes" mong in a stitched white circle, the other a skin-tight and gaudy looking outfit that showed off a magnificent figure. Upon the shoulder of the blue haired girl was perched a curious long-eared creature that looked something like between a rabbit and a cat, and all three staring at a huge object that hung suspended in the room like some massive unblinking eye set within a highly technological framework.

The three strangers turned at the sound of their approach, the large dark haired girl immediately falling into a defensive stance until her companion said, "Wait...they don't look like enemies. That one wearing the spatula is an almost dead-ringer for a guy I know named Ryokoma. The redhead...well...that looks a little like my Uncle Ranma..."

"My uncle too," the taller girl relaxed, "So...who are you guys anyway?"

"That's what we were gonna ask you," Ryoma replied, but then Touga stepped forward and said, "I am Kuno Touga, Daimyo of what you call the prefecture of Nerima. These are my friends and kinsmen from many alternate realities, and I take it that at least one of you has connection to the clan of Saotome?"

"Yeah," the blue haired girl replied, "So you're a Kuno, huh? Well, I won't hold it against you."

"We were wondering if any of you guys could tell us what that thing is over there," the tall dark-haired girl hooked her thumb over her shoulder.

"Hmm..." Efreet studied the object in question, "It looks a little like the Eye of God..."

"The WHAT?" Carmine exclaimed in alarm.

"You know," the Demon-Goddess informed her friend, "The Ultimate Weapon from my world. I told you all about it a long time ago. It has the power to control time and space and can open up gates to other worlds and..." she blinked her eyes, "Oh my..."

"The Eye of God?" Onnama turned and stared at the object in question, "That does not sound too good..."

"No, it doesn't," Tarot replied, moving her hand slightly so that the glowing disk supporting the two injured parties was moved to an unoccupied portion of the ledge on which they were standing, "And I'm betting that we've all been directed to this spot for a reason. What we're looking on is a device at the center of so much intrigue and deception. This whole elaborate complex is nothing more than an engine of destruction aimed across the boundaries of space and time to all points of some celestial compass the likes of which we mere mortals cannot imagine."

"In other words you believe that this...creation serves some foul purpose that mere mortals such as ourselves could not conceive," Ryonosuke said grimly, "My lord, I know little of this thing that the Gaijin call technology, but I can tell that a device such as this should not exist in any sense of the word or meaning."

"Agreed," Touga affirmed, "But if destroying it is our purpose, then the means of doing this must be determined..."

"Not to worry," Carmine said, "Efreet here is a product of the same technology that created the Eye on her world, so it ought to be no problem for her to blow that thing to Kingdom Come with one shot of her keystaff, right Honey?"

"Ah...actually," the girl in question replied, "This thing may be a lot smaller than the Eye of my world, but...well...I don't know if it would be safe for me to even try. The real Eye that I know about could transport entire continents with one shot of its ruby beam, and it even sent my Mom through time and space over ten thousand years. If I shoot it with my keystaff it could go off and transport us anywhere completely at random, and I'm not even sure if we'd all arrive at the same place. I could absorb some of its power, but even using that it could take a long time for me to find the rest of you guys..."

"I see," Ryoma nodded grimly, "So this thing isn't just a fancy gadget or a weapon...its power could even be the same one that's been yanking us around from world to world, so if we destroy it there may be no way for us to return to our original timelines."

"No fooling?" Ryeka said, "Well, maybe there's another way for us to get back, if you guys have been thrown around the same way me and Ayane here have. My Grandmother's probably out looking for us even as we speak, so I don't think we need to worry about this thing being our only lifeline."

"Sure, no problem!" Ayane made a fist, "Destroying gadgets is my specialty...I wreck at least a dozen Mecha and Killer gadgets in a weak, all thanks to that annoying Berka."

"Unfortunately, I cannot allow any of you to do that," a voice dramatically interrupted, "Your arrival here was most untimely, and that due to the interference of one who has opposed me at every bent. I do not know why he selected you lot, but your journeys end here, and I am your final witness."

"What the...?" Onnama exclaimed, turning to find a very tall man standing in another clear area in their midst, a handsome fellow of indeterminate age dressed in formal attire who had a light brown hair color but whose eyes were strange and full of unnatural emotions.

"Who are you?" Ryoma stood at the ready.

"The enemy most obviously," Tarot replied.

"We come at last to face the one who has been toying with our lives, it seems," Touga remarked as he, too, stood in a posture of readiness.

"You are mistaken," the man replied, "I am not the one who has been manipulating your lives, but that is mainly because you are all too insignificant for me to bother with you insects. My aim is not to change things but to eliminate your flawed universes from reality altogether."

"What?" Carmine declared, "But that's crazy!"

"Yeah," Ryeka declared, "Who are you to decide our fates anyway?"

"You could never begin to comprehend what I am or the nature of what I represent," the man declared, "But I am known as Karadon, and that is all you need to hear as I consign you to oblivion."

And with that the man made a dramatic hand gesture that caused the room to be filled with a light that turned everything stark white, and then oblivion did indeed fill the entire chamber...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Convoluted Plotlines and Solutions: shadowmane

Things are heating up on all corners as Ranko and her Posse ride to the rescue (assuming they can convince the last member of their little Warband to cooperate with their mission), but will even the presence of so many Saotomes be enough to turn the battle in their favor, and what ultimately is behind the schemes of Derek and the renegade Guardian, Karadon? For that and other mysteries, stay tuned for, "Back to the Futures," or "For Whom the Smells Toll!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	26. Chapter 26

RanCubed25

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and Others,  
including my fellow fanfic writers, Nicole Manders, Trella,  
Gregg Sharp and DB Sommers, who provided some of the characters and concepts that have appeared in this series, and to TH Tiger for his generous support and advice in the writing of this and many other projects)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Limbotomy

Realm of Limbo

Roll Call:

Ranko Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Akane Kachima Tendo -Daughter of Ranma and Nabiki Silver Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo Rinse Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo Watazashi Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Kodachi Tenma Saotome -Son of Ranma and Kasumi Cinnamon Saotome -Son of Ranma and Herb Ryo Saotome -Son of Ranma and Ukyo Yuan-Yen Tendo -Daughter of Mousse and Nabiki Bonbon Tofu -Daughter of Shampoo and Tofu Nutmeg Saotome -Daughter of Shampoo and Ranma

"Saotome Ryo?" Ranko repeated, touching the pendant on her breast as she added, "The guy who created this thing?"

"That is whom I believe we have the honor of becoming acquainted with this time around," Kachima replied, "Only he seems to have succumbed to some rather hard times at the moment..."

"No fooling," Silver sniffed, "Somebody went and crucified the guy! I mean...is he even still breathing on that thing?"

"Hard to believe," Rinse said, wincing slightly, "That's gotta be excruciatingly painful."

"Historically speaking, that was the general purpose," Watazashi grimly mused, "It was intended to cause a slow and painful death, but on average prisoners subjected to such punishment were known to last for days before suffocating with the weight of their own chests weighing down upon them."

"So how long would you say that guy's been up there?" Yuan-Yen asked.

"Difficult to say," Tenma nodded, "But he definitely is still alive. I can feel the Force surrounding him...he's surprisingly healthy in spite of being up there for who knows how long."

"But his spirit...it's so tainted, so much pain," Bonbon murmured softly, "He is in more emotional agony than any physical impairment. He seems trapped by loneliness and despair, and yet his mind is not yet broken."

"He is a Saotome," Cinnamon observed, "We tend to be a very hardy breed, and in spite of the cruelty of his condition he yet clings to life, the true sign of a born fighter."

"But he is so sad," Nutmeg averred, "Can you not feel the anguish and sorrow radiating all around him? Someone has left him here to suffer..."

"All the more reason to cut him down from there," Ranko started to move forward when she felt Kachima's hand gently restraining her.

"Not yet," she said, "I have a feeling about this one and the nature of his imprisonment. This realm reflects the hopelessness that he has come to embrace. He cannot die because Limbo sustains him, but you can feel how badly he wishes that he could extinguish his consciousness. He was left here by someone who wanted him to abandon all hope and give way to madness...and yet he is a Temporal Nexus, like ourselves...and that can mean but one thing..."

"The enemy put him here," Watazashi finished for her.

"Precisely," the Apprenticed Lore Master affirmed, "He was left here to suffer in a realm where he could not perish, could not find release and could only contemplate the futility of his own plight..."

"The enemy?" Cinnamon asked.

"Karadon," Kachima replied, "A being of vast power who can control the flow of time and space, and one who hates the line of Saotome more than any other."

"Really?" Tenma asked, "Why is that?

"I dunno," Ranko shrugged, "Somehow our Pop has become a threat to the guy's plans and he has a particular mad-on for anybody who has anything to do with Saotome Ranma..."

"Sounds like a creep who needs to get himself wasted," Silver's nostrils flared, "But if he's so powerful, how come Pop is a threat to his plans?"

"That is the most curious of questions," Watazashi mused, "However...if he is indeed the one responsible for the broach Ranko-chan is linked to, then mayhaps his tormenters considered that alone to be sufficient reason."

"Whatever the case, we can't leave him up there," Tenma said as he drew his lightsaber and activated it, then approached the crucifix and prepared to use it to cut the boy down from his current prison.

"Go away," a voice hoarsely groaned, "I don't believe in you anymore...stop bothering me..."

"I'm sorry," Tenma said, "I simply cannot do that," and with a few quick motions of his saber he sliced the ropes binding the boy to the wooden post, causing the post itself to separate into so much useless kindling.

Bonbon extended her arms and seemed to focus her mind upon the boy as he fell, causing him to float down to the ground as light as the gentlest feather. Tenma knelt down and examined the boys hands and feet to confirm his suspicions, then said, "Spikes were driven through him, the wounds aren't really bleeding. I think they're some kind of illusion meant to convince him that he's been crucified. In reality his injuries are mostly mental."

"I suspected as much," Kachima remarked, "In Limbo the normal rules of entropy do not apply and there is neither hunger nor thirst, nor even decay as we understand the concept. If actual metal had been pounded through his flesh it would only do superficial damage, easily repaired with their removal...but these spikes have the stab of faux realism simply because they owe their reality to Ryo-san's imagination."

"You mean he's doing this to himself?" Yuan-Yen asked, appalled.

"Psychosomatic trauma," Watazashi nodded, "Someone convinced him that he was being crucified and created the powerful illusion in his mind to hold him here. He most likely could have freed himself if he had questioned their validity. A most effective way of entrapping him here, and because he could truly die like this his suffering most likely would have gone on forever."

"But who could be so cruel?" Nutmeg asked.

"My father for one," Cinnamon replied, "If he hated someone with sufficient intensity as to see them cast into a hell from which there could be no escape. I understand that the real Hell is much like this sort of prison...an illusion of the mind that traps the souls of wicked people bound to their own gross carnality and evil. A prison where you are the only true jailer is the sort of delicious irony that would appeal to the Emperor were there anyone who could so earn his ill favor."

"Nice guy your Dad is," Rinse observed.

"Tell me about it," Cinnamon sighed, "Truly there are times when I seriously wish that he were not my lawful Sire..."

"Easy there," Tenma sought to comfort his nominal patient as Ryo stirred to semi-wakefulness, "You've had a rough time of it, and if there were anywhere else you'd be suffering from dehydration and exposure..."

"So who are you, a Doctor?" the boy asked weakly.

"Not yet," Tenma replied, "But I am studying for my degree, and I've had some excellent tutors."

Ryo opened his eyes and stared at the youthful face looking down at him with concern, then at the other faces that stood back from them a short distance and said, "Why do you torment me so? Go away...I don't want to do this anymore..."

"Do what?" Rinse asked.

"I think this guy's lost it," Silver replied, "He seems to think we're imaginary."

"Well, under the circumstances, can you blame him?" Yuan-Yen reasoned, "He's obviously been through quite a lot, and there's no telling how long he's been trapped in this place."

"Yeah," Rinse agreed, "Could you blame him if he wound up in a loony bin after all that?"

"NOOO!" Ryo shunned away and curled up into a fetal ball, groaning, "Not again...I can't take any more! Get away from me...now!"

"That is neither practical nor advisable," Watazashi explained, "We are in dire need of your assistance and..."

"Ah...'Zashi?" Yuan-Yen tugged at her beloved's shirtsleeve and glanced off to the side, "Don't look now...but I think we've got company..."

"Huh?" Ranko exclaimed as she and the others turned to see a number of shadowy figures appearing in the space surrounding them, congealing into recognizably human shapes that assumed threatening postures as they confronted the very surprised party from all angles.

"Who are these guys?" Rinse asked.

"The welcoming committee, obviously," Yuan-Yen replied.

"Then why do they look a little like us?" Silver wondered as she and the others stood cautiously at the ready.

"Now that is a very good question," Watazashi mused, "They are clearly strangers, yet they have the aspect of young people very much like ourselves, and a few do look awfully familiar."

"Hey," Rinse suddenly pointed forward, "Doesn't that one look a little like Spring? Remember her when we ran into her a few days back?"

"Hey, you're right," Yuan-Yen agreed, "She's got the purple pig-tails and every thing..."

"Indeed," Cinnamon mused, "Then what of this fellow in the cape and the mask with the tall hat and fancy dinner wear? He looks more like a servant than a fighter...)

"Why yes, now that you mention it," Watazashi frowned, "And he's holding up one of my mother's black roses..."

"That one there looks a little like your girlfriend, Tachi, eh Rinse?" Yuan-Yen noted to an astonished looking purple haired wonder.

Ranko stared into the eyes of a girl who looked remarkably like her, only her dark hair was cut short and she seemed to manifest an angry, irritated aspect that was yet somehow familiar, and for no reason that she could naturally define she said, "Meiko...?"

"There is something very odd here," Bonbon remarked, "They stand more like shadows than like living persons, and I do not sense any true life essence..."

"I think I know why," Kachima remarked as she ignored the threatening shades and instead flowed gracefully around behind the cringing Ryo, placed a hand to either of his temples and proceeded to gently hum in tones of a reassuring lullaby.

One moment after she did this all of the threatening figures faded away into nothing. The party stared at the ensuing gray void of the landscape, and then Nutmeg asked, "What happened? Where did they go?"

"The answer, my love, is quite obvious," Cinnamon turned to regard Ryo, "They were never truly here to begin with."

"Shades," Tenma remarked, "Formed by the unconscious imagination of one who has been trapped in this void for so long that he has lost his ability to define the difference between reality and dream."

"And when dealing with a realm such as this, such separations are necessary," Bonbon remarked, "Without them the very plasticity of this dimension allows the unconscious to craft images reflecting the inner demons of a tormented psyche."

"You mean he was creating those things?" Silver asked.

"Indubitably," Watazashi responded, "Only his inner demons appeared to take the shape of people whom he has undoubtedly encountered in his own far-flung travels."

Rinse looked at Ranko curiously and said, "What did you call that one girl?"

"Meiko," Ranko said a bit shakily, "She's my younger sister...I never met her before I started this Time gig either. I only found out about her after it was too late...to do anything about it."

"It sounds like quite an unpleasant story," Cinnamon mused, "Have you been doing this for very long?"

"No," Ranko sighed, "I got involved in this plane travel thing for only a couple of weeks my time...a few days for everybody else, and that last part mainly because my folks...my adopted mother and father...brought me along with them for their honeymoon."

"We feel for you," Nutmeg said gently, "It must be quite an experience to have your life be cast on the winds this way, going from world to world and never calling any one of them your own..."

"My own world wasn't any great shakes, lady," Ranko said, "I may have called it home, but...well...since running into you guys...I've found out just how small my life really was. I thought I had it pretty bad in my old life, but this guy...yeesh!"

"He does not appear to have suffered so much on his own before his travels through time began," Kachima mused as she massaged the temples of the boy whose head was now resting on her lap, "I sense that life for him had been a fun adventure before he was stripped away from the one whose life held the most meaning to his existence. I hear him calling out her name...Belldandy..."

"Belldandy?" Rinse replied, "That's the name of my cousin."

"Mine too," Yuan-Yen remarked, "Think there might be a relation?"

"We did encounter several versions of your cousin on our first, outing as I recall the affair," Watazashi mused, "She was named for a Goddess, if I also remember things rightly..."

"The Goddess of the Present," Kachima replied, "And yes, there is a relationship to that. How odd to think of the differences between this Belldandy and the cousin whom I know, Kusariboro..."

"That's a name?" Spring blinked.

"Yes it is," Bonbon replied, "Why do you ask?

"Belldandy!" the boy suddenly came awake and looked around himself once again, "Where...who are you people...?"

"Take it easy," Tenma urged, "You among friends. No one here wants to harm you, so just give yourself a minute and then we can sort out matters like that when you feel better."

"But..." Ryo looked at his hands, which were no longer sporting the wicked spikes that he had been enduring for the longest time, "I...I don't understand..."

"That is putting it a bit delicately," Kachima mused, "I sense a great void within you, as if you have endured the endless privations of the soul that only a realm such a realm as this one could visit upon mere mortals. Though you have striven valiantly to hold on to your hope and identity you had started to falter and lose faith when we arrived. Had we not intervened you would have continued to hang upon that crucifix until you lost all identity and became as one with the void, like so many victims before you."

"I don't really know what you're talking about..." Ryo started to say when his eyes grew focused upon Ranko, and then he suddenly lunged to his feet and said, "YOU-THROW THAT THING AS FAR AWAY FROM HERE AS YOU CAN!"

"What?" Ranko dodged back out of the way of the surprisingly limber boy, who had just gone from invalid to Jock in one easy lesson, "Are you crazy? Keep away from me!"

"You don't understand!" Ryo cried, "That thing destroyed my life, and it's going to do the same to you if you don't get rid of it right now!"

He reached for the pendant again, but Ranko met and blocked his attack declaring, "It's my pendant now! You may have made it, but you can't have it!"

"What do you know about what I made?" Ryo declared, "I created it to get me back to my home, but the thing never takes me where I want it to, and I always wind up somewhere else! It's nothing but trouble and you're better off without it! TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN KACHU REMODIFIED!"

The speed of his hands increased tenfold, and to Ranko's complete surprise she found it impossible to block all of his attacks, and one strike managed to get home as he plucked the pendant off of her breasts and held it aloft with a triumphant, "Got you!"

"NOOO!" Ranko cried out as she felt herself begin to fade from existence, only to find Kachima was there behind her pressing her hands to the redhead's earlobes, which stabilized her so that she ceased fading from sight. At the same time Silver and Rinse grabbed firm hold of Ryo's arms as Watazashi snatched the pendant from his grasp and placed it around Ranko's neck, which caused her to stabilize almost at once.

"Are you nuts?" Silver growled.

"Have you gone completely mental?" Rinse seconded, "She needs that thing to stay stable!"

"Ranko-chan experienced an occurrence that bonded her to the pendant and makes it impossible for her to remain dimensionally stable without it," Watazashi revealed, "By removing it from her you almost doomed her. Such impertinent behavior ill behooves one who would call us his sisters."

"Sisters?" Ryo ceased struggling against their combined grip.

"That's right, big guy," Silver growled, "Can't you see the family resemblance?"

"Yeah," Rinse snarled, "And you'll have to go through us if you want to get at Ranko!"

Ranko stared at her hands, then she glared at her nominal paratime "brother" and said, "Let him go! I wanna explain something to him for myself!"

"Eh?" Watazashi replied, then saw the determination in her sister's blue eyes and said, "I see. Do as she asks, sisters. This is for Ranko-chan to handle."

"What?" Silver blinked, then exchanged looks with Rinse, who let go at the same time so that Ryo was no longer restrained between them.

Ranko did not even think about what she was doing as she touched the charm that was also attached to her pendant, and all at once a ball of light flared in one hand and she stepped forward gripping an ornate looking war-hammer. With two strides she knocked Ryo sprawling with the object then stood poised over him holding the hammer high as it blazed with her internal fury.

"NOW LISTEN HERE AND LISTEN GOOD!" she roared, "You don't take stuff that doesn't belong to you, you don't touch without asking, and you DEFINITELY WILL NOT DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, DO YOU GET ME?"

"Eh?" Ryo stared at the redhead and then at the war hammer, "Where did you...get that?"

"One question at a time," Watazashi replied, "Our sister asked you a question, I suggest you answer her or suffer the consequences."

"Guys, can we please ratchet the tone down a little?" Tenma asked.

"Indeed," Kachima agreed, "Brother Ryo's actions were in error, but his intentions-however misguided-were noble."

"Perhaps so," Cinnamon smiled, "But I'm for letting them have it out. It's quite fascinating, actually, to see our noble sister teach this fool a thing or two about heroism and good manners. His thoughtless deed might well have doomed her if not for your timely intervention."

"But he was acting out of misery and grief," Nutmeg reasoned, "He didn't mean to hurt your friend, he only acting in what he thought was best for everyone's interests."

"So what?" Bonbon asked, "The broad road to the Ninety-Nine Hells is paved with good intentions."

"Well, you know what they say about good intentions," Yuan-Yen shrugged, "They're like asses...everybody's got at least a pair of them to sit on."

"Indeed," Cinnamon smiled, "Crudely put but very succinct. I can see why sister Watazashi favors you so greatly."

"She's one of a kind...well, sort of," Watazashi smiled, "So far I have yet to meet another just like her."

"Just don't even think of trading me in for a new model," the brown haired Tendo girl growled in warm affection.

"Small danger of that, Sister," Kachima mused, turned to regard Ryo and said, "Do you see now? We are the sons and daughters of Saotome Ranma, which makes us your sisters and brothers by blood. The realities that shaped us may be different, as are our mothers, but in spirit we are as one, our flesh is of one body."

"One flesh?" Ryo repeated, "One body? You really think we're of one soul, don't you?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Ranko asked, lowering her hammer as the glow surrounding it started fading.

"You don't really understand anything," Ryo lay back and openly wept, "I used to believe that fighting was a way of achieving peace through reconciling opposing forces...but in the end fighting is meaningless. As many times as you beat the bad guys there's just more fighting down the line. More fighting and more suffering, and none of it ever gets us any closer to the goals we're attempting to reach. I kept fighting to get back to Belldandy, to my iinazuke, the woman I love...but everything I did just took me further and further away from her side. I'd go from world to world and I'd never get any closer. That pendant that you've bonded your soul with doesn't respect your wishes, it has its own agenda and it expect you to follow..."

"What about it?" Ranko asked, "Didn't you know this thing is linked to Yggdrasil?"

"Yggdrasil?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah," Ranko replied, "It's some kind of fancy big computer that the Gods created to control the timelines. I found that out the hard way...you can't really control the pendant, you have to work with it, you have to bargain and show it the way we humans work and act together. Otherwise it's just a soulless trinket that does what it's told by the great big computer that controls its actions."

"Indeed," Kachima agreed, "Yggdrasil is merely carrying out its programmed instructions of self-preservation and the stability of the Cosmos. The Gods designed it well when they created it, and somehow the Nanban mirror is linked to this source of stability, so the one who wields it is as much its servant as its Mistress."

"But aren't you even a little bit resentful about that thing making you do its bidding?" Yuan-Yen asked Ranko, "I know if I was stuck wearing a thing like that for life, I'd be awfully resentful..."

"Maybe a little," Ranko said, "But the pendant doesn't really work unless it has somebody to control it, and it elected me out of all the candidates it scanned in our first adventure. That's a pretty big responsibility when you come down to it, and the first thing I really ever did by myself when I got this was go back in time and change my past, thereby voiding the events that brought my sorry world into existence."

"You what?" Bonbon gasped.

"Did you do this deliberately?" Nutmeg asked.

"No," Ranko said, "I just acted impulsively to keep my mom from killing everybody, like she did when I was little. That set in motion a whole chain of events that led her to getting the help she needed, so when I went back to my own time I found that everything was a whole lot better. There was a me living in that world who was actually happy, and my folks were together and Grandpa was perfectly healthy. The only problem is...I didn't belong there...'cause the world I did belong to was sent into some kind of limbo-like place just like this one."

"How horrible," Tenma said.

"You think so?" Ranko replied, "I don't. My world was in pretty bad shape and it was all I could do to keep my Grandpa from lapsing into senility. I may not have a home anymore, but I've got a new life that's a whole lot better, and my adopted folks are terrific. I've got my Pop...well, a version of him who's pretty kick-ass, and my Aunt Nabiki is now my Mom, and life's a whole lot better for me. I'm even an apprenticed Time Agent, which means I get to go around to other worlds and kick butt, just like Pop."

"I see," Cinnamon said, "You are a true warrior, your have the spirit of a Saotome. Well met indeed, I am proud to call you my sister."

"But what about everyone else on your world?" Bonbon asked, "What of their lives, their destinies? How were they affected by your actions?"

"I don't really know," Ranko said, "But I guess they got on pretty much like they had on my timeline, except maybe my Pop was around to make sure there were a lot fewer bad guys. It's not like everything really depends on us Nexuses anyway, right? After all, ain't the world really the product of what all people everywhere decide to do with their lives?"

"Well put indeed," Kachima applauded, "Existence is the sum total of all spirits and minds combined, the reality that we realize out of all the possible alternate pathways in existence. Reality is a conspiracy of the mind, a shared concept formed from the cumulative experience of all people in all realities. What we perceive as real is the reality that we live with, and that which is external to our lives is only factually real as the substance that forms our background."

"Well, fancy metaphysics aside, I think it's safe to say that the world's a better place with Uncle Ranma in it," Yuan-Yen smiled, "And I know 'Zashi makes things better by her presence..."

"Flatterer," Watazashi replied, "But then you do have good reason to be biased."

"But what about the disruption to your life?" Ryo asked, "Don't you want to have some choice about whether you get tossed hither and yon in the time stream?"

"What about it?" Ranko said, "I'm starting to get a little control over how this thing works, and besides, I've been having a blast in spite of everything. Besides, I get to meet people like you guys. You're like my second family, and I love you like you really were my sisters. I've got nothing to complain about, though I will admit that it gets a little funny sometimes, like finding out my Pop was somebody's mother."

"Touch ," Cinnamon smiled, "I fully understand how that could seem confusing, my Mother being a man and all of that..."

"He was my father too," Nutmeg said, "And my mother was devoted to him, even when she treated him as a sister."

"So what are you moping and groaning about?" Ranko asked, "Doncha know it could always be a lot worse?"

"But you don't understand at all," Ryo said as he got back to his feet, "Your life may be an improvement, but mine is a shambles! I've been trying for so long to get back to my Belldandy, and you can't tell me that there's any purpose for me being lost to her in other worlds where I don't even belong!"

"What happened to you, Brother?" Tenma asked, "How did you wind up in a place like this...being crucified no less..."

"It was Karadon, was it not?" Kachima answered for him.

"That was the name he gave me," Ryo said, "He captured me...I couldn't beat him...he was too strong, and he brought that scum, Muhoshin, with him. The guy was almost dead, but he still had that pendant in his chest, a walking corpse in control of a thing I had created! I've seen the horror that he can do with that pendant...you have no idea what kind of power you control there..."

"Sort-of control," Ranko shrugged, "I'm still learning my limits."

"So he brought you here and tortured you," Kachima persisted.

"Yeah..." Ryo sighed, "He wanted to know exactly how I created the pendant, but I did it using one of Happosai's scrolls, so I only half understood what I was doing. I put that picture of Belldandy in it because I hoped it would insure that I got back to her safely. Instead I found I couldn't really control the direction where it took me at all..."

"Stay on the subject," Watazashi urged, "You were tortured to reveal your secrets...did you divulge anything of importance?"

"I don't really know," Ryo replied, "He kept asking me all kinds of questions...stuff I didn't really understand, some of it about some guy I never met called Derek..."

"We know the guy," Ranko nodded, "Go on."

"What more is there to say?" Ryo asked, "He tortured me, crucified me, left me for dead...but I couldn't really die. I wanted to...but I just kept hanging there, lingering on, suffering like you couldn't believe..."

"Feeling sorry for yourself," Cinnamon sniffed, "Wallowing in self-pity, never realizing that you had the means at your disposal to free yourself at any time, sniveling like a coward because you were weak and inadequate in your task."

"Huh?" Silver glanced at the Prince, "Now wait a minute..."

"That's a pretty harsh thing to say," Yuan-Yen complained.

"Yeah," Rinse sniffed, "It's cold even for a guy like you, Prince."

"You think I care about mincing my language over a pathetic weakling like him?" Cinnamon snorted, "The fool can't even see what a child he has been reduced to, giving reign to his emotions, surrendering his pride and acting sorry for himself because things did not turn out the way that he thought they should. Look into his eyes, you can see how he has been defeated, like a whipped puppy. Go slink off into a corner and lick your wounds, fool. We have important business to attend and we have wasted more than enough time coddling your sorry hide. All you are good for is to sit back and complain about how unfair your life has become..."

"Now that's being more than a little unfair, don't you think?" Tenma asked when he felt Kachima's hand on his shoulder and caught her subtle shake of the head, telling him silently to stay on the sidelines.

"I think not," Cinnamon said, "We came here seeking a warrior, all we found it a child who moans and revels in self pity. Go back to your self-crucification, you doubtlessly deserve it. Giving in to the odds is not the way of a true warrior, and certainly not worthy of a man who bears the name of Saotome."

"Hey," Ryo squared his shoulders and glared at the salt-and-pepper haired Musk Prince, "I didn't give in, I was ambushed!"

"I am not interested in hearing your excuses," Cinnamon said, "My mother...or your Father, never allowed himself to be defeated by a little setback. He taught me well that a man is defined by the choices he makes, and any man of honor knows that he has a duty to never surrender the fight, never give the enemy his satisfaction, and never, ever lose hope in the final outcome. Death comes when it will, but a warrior never yields his fighting spirit. Your spirit is diminished because you fret over losing your woman. Well, perhaps you should consider her fortunate not to be saddled with such a weakling and a coward. She obviously deserves far better than you in a husband."

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" Ryo roared, brandishing his fists.

"Why should I?" Cinnamon asked, "You think I fear the feeble threats of a man who is already defeated? You cannot win a fight so long as you know that you cannot win as your heart is clouded with doubt and self-loathing..."

"You think I don't see what you're doing?" Ryo bridled, "You think a few insults are going to make me angry?"

"Anger?" Cinnamon snorted, "Your anger is worth a candlewick compared to what you would feel if you truly cared as much as you claim to for the woman you profess to love. I do not respect a man who is not prepared to sacrifice everything that he is for victory, knowing that without it all he loves will be lost. If a thing is worth fighting for, then it is worth fighting with all your heart and all your soul, and if you do not understand this, then you truly are a pitiable excuse for a man. Any of these women are ten times the man I see before me..."

"You-BASTARD!" Ryo lashed out before he even knew what he was doing, and with a fury that caught everyone by surprise he lunged at the armored Musk warrior and delivered a stunning punch that staggered Cinnamon several paces backward.

"Hah!" Cinnamon righted himself, "You hit like a girl, you weakling!"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Ryo snarled and with stunning speed and power launched into an onslaught that had the fury of ten tigers and forced Cinnamon to defend himself in earnest, dodging and blocking attacks that came so swiftly that they were a blur to the naked eye as the two men began to dance over the landscape in a duel of arms that was nothing less than stunning.

"We have to stop them!" Rinse declared.

"Yeah," Silver agreed, "Before those two maniacs hurt themselves, not that I wouldn't like to kick that Musk guy's butt myself..."

"Hold on a moment," Kachima urged, "Let them go for now. Prince Cinnamon knows what he is doing."

"Are you kidding?" Yuan-Yen asked, "Those guys are really going at it! They could hurt each other if they keep it up at this level!"

"Not necessarily," Watazashi mused, "I do believe I espy the method to the madness of these actions."

"You mean that he deliberately provoked Ryo to make him this angry?" Tenma asked.

"Angry and determined to fight," Bonbon nodded, "Truly he is a warrior born, he just needed a reminder to get his spirit raised to the challenge."

"I do hope that they are careful," Nutmeg said, "They seem to be using their full strength..."

"That seems to be the idea," Ranko nodded, "Can't say I approve of his methods, but at least it got Ryo out of the doldrums."

Ryo was blazing with intensity, his body literally glowing with the strength of his battle aura, forcing Cinnamon to draw upon his own reserves to stave off killer blows that could have pulverized steel girders. Ryo pressed his attack hard, but to his surprise he found that his opponent was smiling. Cinnamon took his measure and was duly impressed, but then rallied a counter-attack that caused his fists to glow with internal power. He unleashed a blast that forced Ryo to dodge to one side, then blazed a pattern of precisely aimed Chi blasts that kept the other boy dancing.

But Ryo was not long on the defensive and promptly rallied a defensive that turned into an offensive as he stood his ground and moved one hand in a spiraling pattern that alternated with Hot and Cold Chi, forming a cylindrical column of swirling intensity that caused the air around them to kick up in all directions.

"HIRYU SHOTEN HA REMODIFIED!" Ryo cried as he sent a second blast of Chi through the corridor that he had created.

In response Cinnamon cupped his hands together and erected a force-shield that caught the blast and deflected it to all sides, dispersing the column and rendering it into nothing.

"Excellent!" Cinnamon declared, "Show me what else you have in your arsenal, Brother!"

"Don't call me your brother!" Ryoma charged his fists together and unleashed another full-intensity Chi blast with a cry of, "SHI SHI HOUKONAN!"

Cinnamon stood his ground until the last instant, then appeared around behind Ryo as the blast annihilated the patch of ground where he had been standing. As he appeared behind his opponent the armored Musk Prince said, "How appropriate that you use an attack based on depression, but can you match this power? MOKO TAKABISHI!"

Ryo turned and met the challenge by firing up his battle aura until he could cup his hands together and create a counter-blast that met and canceled out the forces unleashed by the Musk Prince. The combined effect of their two blasts forced everyone standing on the sidelines to raise their arms and brace against the hurricane-force winds that kicked up their hair and blew their clothes against their bodies. The sound alone was deafening and drove a few of the onlookers to their knees, holding their ears and shutting their eyes against the tumult.

"THIS IS NUTS!" Silver complained very loudly.

"SERIOUSLY!" Rinse once again agreed.

"I have had enough of this," Tenma said as he straightened out, and despite his calm demeanor those who saw and heard him marveled at the way he seemed to tower over the battlefield at this moment.

Ryo and Cinnamon stood back to take stock of one another, but even as they moved to come together they found Tenma standing in their immediate path, the tall brown-haired boy staring evenly at the ground before him as if summoning his own inner power, and at the last moment when they were nearly in arms length he suddenly raised both hands and projected his Force in both directions.

Ryo and Cinnamon were suddenly met by an invisible wall that caught them off-  
guard and threw them back again as if they had just bounced off of a rubber surface. Tenma then waited until both had risen to their feet before activating his Light Saber, which by itself got their attention.

"Are you quite through?" Tenma asked in precisely worded tones that-while even and reflecting very little emotion-had the same effect as though the inordinately calm boy had actually been shouting, "This conflict is pointless and wastes times that could be better spent on deciding a more constructive course of actions. We are not enemies here, nor is there cause for us to fight among ourselves, and I would prefer if you choose a less confrontational approach to prod someone into showing you their prowess...brother."

"So...you knew my strategy all along," Cinnamon smiled, nodding his head before he added, "A good fight, you are a capable fighter. Now that I have seen what you can do I would be proud to call you a kinsman, Brother."

"Who says I want to be anyone's brother?" Ryo spat, "You said all that just to get me angry? Why?"

"Because it seemed to me that you needed a good swift kick in the rear," Cinnamon replied, "And I volunteered for the task. If you wish an apology, I will take back what I said about your woman, but I will not retract my statement about the folly of you wallowing in self-pity."

"He has a point at that," Tenma turned to Ryo, "You were starting to get a little depressing there, Brother."

"Stop calling me that," Ryo frowned, "We may have the same father, but that doesn't make you my brother."

"Oh, a hard case, huh?" Spring snorted, "Well, we're not impressed either, and what makes you think you're good enough to be our brother?"

"Your anger and remorse over being unable to find your way home is misdirected," Watazashi informed him, "You should take advantage of our coming here as a rescue, and by right you should see this for the opportunity that it is."

"Opportunity?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah," Ranko said, "For revenge against the bastard that left you here. Karadon's our enemy too, so do you want a crack at him or don't you?"

"Join with us and we will even the scales in your favor," Kachima assured, "And in allying with us you may even serve yourself after a fashion."

"Or you could always stay here and continue to bemoan your fate," Bonbon noted, "The choice is up to you, if choice is what you value."

"Please say that you will join us," Nutmeg pleaded, "We could use your help since you are quite evidently a great fighter, if only you believe in yourself and the cause for which you stand."

"Besides," Ranko added, "Don't you want at least a chance to get back to your sweetheart? If she's all that important to you, then she's gotta be worried sick about what's happened to you, guy."

"Of course she might not really be pining away like you'd imagine," Yuan-Yen said, "Maybe she's found some other guy who's more reliable..."

"More...reliable?" Ryo bristled.

"Sure," Yuan-Yen said, "After all you never call, you never write, you just vanish without a trace and never even give her a hint that you're even alive. You think any girl is just going to sit around and wait for you like a dutiful housewife?"

"She wouldn't...!" Ryo started to protest...

"If she truly loves you she will be waiting," Watazashi gave Yuan-Yen a chiding glance, "Darling, it's not nice to tease people like that, even if you are trying to goad him..."

"Well, did it work?" Yuan-Yen asked with a shameless smile.

"That all depends on our friend Ryo here," Watazashi looked at the boy directly, "It's all up to you whether you are a member of the team or a single player."

Ryo glanced around at the other ten people surrounding him then squared his shoulders and said, "What do you think, lady?"

"What I think is of relative merit," Watazashi said, "But I can see by that gleam in your eyes that you have recovered your self-respect. With that in mind I would say that we are finally united and prepared to do battle."

"A house divided against itself cannot stand," Tenma agreed.

"But the strength of unity is like shoots of bamboo when combined together," Bonbon added, "The strength is multiplied and resulting bunch are made stronger."

"But a chain is still only as strong as its weakest link," Cinnamon added, "And having you ready and willing to carry your weight makes the rest of us stronger by one unit."

"Can we get off these stupid syllogisms?" Silver asked, "We're starting to sound like a fortune cookie tea parlor."

"Or one of great-great grandmother's lectures," Rinse added.

"All right by me...OOPS!" Ranko glanced down at the suddenly pulsating pendant, "Looks like we patched things up just in time...our train is leaving the station."

"Wonder where we'll wind up this time," Yuan-Yen mused.

"I believe we are headed for our final destination," Kachima revealed.

"I'm not sure I like the way you put that," Rinse remarked as the scenes of hell faded out from sight, to be replaced moments later by a well lit chamber that was partly stone and partially metal.

"What the heck is this?" Ranko asked as they stared around at a sizeable room that was dominated in a crystalline pillar that was glowing with a pulsing light at the very center of the chamber.

"What is that thing?" Silver shared her dismayed fascination.

"Whatever it is, it radiates power," Cinnamon noted.

"I'm betting it's also important to whatever purpose has drawn us here," Watazashi theorized, "At the very least we should be close to fulfilling our purpose."

"You are right," Kachima said, "This is the center of the enemy's power. I can sense that it is the heart of Karadon's evil ambitions."

"I concur that it is radiating a force that is manifestly hostile to life as we know it," Tenma agreed, but then turned around and said, "Bonbon? Where has she gotten off to?"

"Eh?" Watazashi turned around and gasped, "Yuan-chan? Where are you?"

"Nutmeg?" Cinnamon gasped as he looked around wildly for his missing half-  
sister, "Where has she gone? Has she been left behind with the others?"

"No," Kachima said, "I sense that they are here, but not near to us...elsewhere close by. We have been left alone to forge a path by ourselves...just the eight of us, all children of Saotome."

"But what's behind all this, and what are we supposed to do here?" Rinse asked, "Did anybody think about including an instruction booklet with this program?"

"I wish," Ranko said, turning to Kachima, "Any ideas on that end?"

"A theory, mainly," Kachima replied, "We each have different mothers but share the same linear descent from Saotome Ranma. We each represent a different possibility that arises from the same baseline concept. If one were to speculate that we are the embodiments of different timelines then you could see an almost geometric pattern, like a seven-pointed star, forming around a central hub...that hub being you, Ranko-san."

"Me?" Ranko blinked.

"It does make sense," Watazashi mused, "What you are saying fits a hypothetical model for a Multi-dimensional framework...only there is one problem in this model..."

"Yeah," Silver said, "It ain't balanced. There are five of us girls and only three boys, which kinda makes it sound lopsided."

"Unless..." Kachima began to say when all at once a globe of water fell over their collective heads, triggering the Jusenkyo curses of those who presently had them.

"You had to open your mouth and say it, didn't you?" Silver complained in a somewhat deeper tone of voice.

"Oh wow," Rinse looked around, taking notice of Ranko-kun and a suddenly transformed Cinnamon-chan, "Guess this mean's we're gender balanced, huh?"

"Oh my," Tenma blinked, "Four boys, four girls...that certainly...is impressive."

"Thank you for the diplomatic way you put that, Brother," a higher-pitched Cinnamon sighed, glancing down at herself and the changes that had also been wrought upon her armor, "Good thing this is magically form-fitting."

"Oh my indeed," Watazashi remarked as she stared at the Musk princess.

"Well," Ranko-kun said, "Now that we've got that straightened out, what's next?"

"HAVE YOU COMPLETELYLOST IT, BAKA?" Silver-kun snapped his way, "DON'T EVER ASK A THING LIKE THAT! SOMEBODY MIGHT BE LISTENING AND..."

"Too late!" Rinse called out as the crystal pillar began to grow brighter from within, forming a blinding radiance that literally filled the room and blotted out all other awareness...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Convergences Impending: shadowmane

Derek's plans are finally revealed in the exciting concluding chapters of this series when it's everyone versus Karadon, and Nabiki discovers a Ranma she would rather do without, while the team formed around Ranko makes the critical play that could spell doom or salvation for the Multiverse that spawned these divergent heroes. Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter in, "The Champion Infernal," or "This is another fine Multiverse you've gotten me into!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	27. Chapter 27

RanCubed26

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and Others,  
including my fellow fanfic writers, Nicole Manders, Trella,  
Gregg Sharp and DB Sommers, who provided some of the characters and concepts that have appeared in this series, and to TH Tiger for his generous support and advice in the writing of this and many other projects)

Chapter Twenty-Six.

Extra Innings

Continuity # 87219654

Roll Call:

Nabiki Saotome -Time Patrol Dispatcher, Lore Master Freya Kuno -Goddess of Love and Battles, Valkyrie Lyn Reikou Kuno -Daughter of Freya and Kuno, Valkyrie in Training Sayo Sanosuke -Daughter of Kasumi and Ranma, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Hiroshi Honsamu -Son of Maki and Takai of the Dark World, Exorcist Ganymede Kuonji -Son of Makoto and Ukyo, Senshi in Training Shanma Saotome -Daughter of Shampoo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Mace Saotome -Son of Shampoo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Kinko Kuonji -Daughter of Akane and Ukyo, part-time Angel Adam Saotome -Son of Ranma and Azusa, Cyborg Moira Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Azusa, Cyborg Muku Dori Senzenen -Daughter of Akane and Mikado, Iczellion Warrior, partner to Rhea Rhea Kano -Iczer Four, daughter of Nagisa and Iczer-One

"It's Pop!" Shanma exclaimed.

"Dad?" Mace seconded his older sister.

"Father?" Sayo and their two cyborg siblings said in chorus.

"Uncle Saotome?" Lyn Reikou asked uncertainly, glancing first at her mother and then at the strangely silent "Aunt Nabiki."

"How horrible," Kinko shuddered, "Somebody's got him spun up there like a big fly to a giant spider.

"Let's cut him down from there," Muku said to her partner, and Rhea nodded at once, both girl leaping into the air as the golden haired Iczer called forth an energy sword and sliced the strands holding the red-and-black clad man in stasis, causing him to drop into Muku's arms as she caught him.

"He seems to be slightly out of it," Freya reasoned as the two girls lowered the older man down onto a level surface, "Not the same Ranma you married, but a damned close resemblance."

"Is he now?" Nabiki frowned, "I wonder."

"Do you suspect something, lady Saotome?" Hiroshi asked.

"More like a feeling...call it a hunch," Nabiki said warily, "Like why is it that Ranma-kun wasn't more closely guarded here? And...I'm not sure exactly what...but he doesn't feel right...not at all like my husband."

"Do you mean that is not father?' Sayo asked.

"No," Nabiki's frown deepened, "I can tell by his aura that it definitely is Ranma-kun...but somehow it's not him. I have this...sense that there is something very wrong about him..."

"Those Ol' Lore Master instincts kicking in are they?" Freya mused, "I don't blame you for being wary, Hon...been around too long myself to take anything for granted, especially on first impressions."

"But what are you saying, Mom?" Shanma asked, "How can he be like Pop and not be him?"

"I think she means that this may not be the same type of Uncle Ranma that we're used to dealing with," Ganymede replied, "I also got this...really cold sense when they freed him. This might be a flawed copy of your father...or perhaps he's been possessed by a Youma...an evil spirit..."

"He doesn't have the look of someone who's possessed," Lyn Reikou said as she scanned the older man who sported a pig-tail, "But there is something...wrong about his aura. You may be right about him being tainted by the spirit of evil."

The man in question groaned softly and raised a hand to his temples, prompting Freya to say, "Well, whatever the case is, he's regaining consciousness, so how do you want to play this?"

"Very carefully...for now," Nabiki said, "But I want everyone to stay on their guard and don't turn your back on him, even for a second."

"But...it's father!" Adam protested.

"How can you ask us to just ignore that about him?" Moira asked on the same pleading level.

"I sympathize with your confusion," Nabiki said, "But this man is not the one you knew as your father. Please understand that we are dealing with the concept of alternate timelines with very different lives..."

"Nabiki?" the man's single question caused her to feel her throat constrict as all eyes turned in his direction, "What...gives? Am I dead...?"

All at once the man came to a full awareness of his surroundings, and as he saw the numerous worried faces turned his way he instantly went on his guard and frowned, "Who are you guys?"

"Father?" Moira asked.

"Dad, it's us," Mace insisted, "Don't you remember?"

"Dad?" the man scowled, "Father? I don't think so..." all at once his eyes fell on Nabiki and he blurted, "YOU? But you-I..." his scowl intensified and he growled, "What is this, Hell? You come after me or something?"

"Hell?" Nabiki repeated the word, when all at once images flooded into her mind and she suddenly saw behind the shocked and anxious expression in the man's eyes to his real thoughts, which had vividly clear images of him pushing a young girl into the path of a speeding car. With a jolt of disbelief she recoiled in horror at the gleeful elation that he had felt upon ridding himself of such an annoyance, the callous disdain for her life by a boy who had fully believed himself justified in committing cold-blooded murder.

(He killed me?) she mentally gasped, sickened to her guts by the dark and twisted patterns in the thoughts of the man who so closely resembled her husband.

Freya sensed the Lore Master-turned-Time Cop growing pale and asked, "Sugar? You feeling well?"

The man who looked like Saotome Ranma backed away up to the wall, keeping his eyes on all of them as he got back to his feet, refusing all efforts of assistance. In concern Mace asked, "Dad? What's wrong? This isn't Hell or any kind of place like that..."

Ranma seemed even more alarmed at the cat-faced boy, but he steadied himself with some effort and said, "I don't know any of you people...did Karadon send you here? We had a deal and he reneged, the bastard..."

Nabiki had caught the flinch in this Ranma's features and read at once into it the events that had corrupted his life and altered him from the path of the noble barbarian with whom she had fallen in love. (It was the Nekoken! Genma threw his six-year-old son into a pit of cats, but instead of it merely traumatizing him and turning him into a quasi-berserker, it drove this Ranma insane! Criminally insane! He's lashing out at anybody he perceives as a threat, and human life means nothing to him! He feels nothing for other people, only for his own needs, and he's a murderer many times over! Kami-sama! He even murdered Shampoo in cold blood! And he warped my little sister, turned Akane into his pawn, and then she fell in love with him and she sacrificed herself for his sake...)

"What are you?" this Ranma glanced from Mace to Shanma and back again, "A couple of Amazons? You on some kind of a Blood Hunt or something?"

"What are you talking about?" Shanma blinked, "Pop...you're not making any sense here..."

"Didn't you hear Aunt Nabiki warn you?" Ganymede said warily, "That isn't your real father."

"Father?" the hooded brow of this Ranma darkened, but then a sly look replaced the caged animal and a gleam of cunning gave him a more confident-if-calculating appearance as he said, "Wait a minute...Karadon mentioned something about other dimensions and realities. You guys come from other worlds where you know me?"

"That's right, Father," Adam replied, "We're all from different worlds where we call you our sire, and except Moira and I, who are your children on a world where we were hunted by an evil corporation that tried to kill us."

"You don't say?" this Ranma asked slyly, "Guess that explains the resemblance. Soooo...Nabiki? How's it hanging? Long time no see..."

For some reason Nabiki had a feeling not unlike what a small bird might feel in the presence of a hungry snake, an altogether unpleasant feeling given the shocking revelations that she had just acquired in her visions.

"Careful," Hiroshi murmured, "He's up to something."

"I know," Sayo agreed, "You can tell by his eyes, they are so cold...so lacking in pity."

"What are you staring at?" Ranma glanced briefly at the Samurai and the Shinto Priest, then turned a scowl at the tall Ganymede and said, "That my little girl you got there? Awful chummy the way you're holding her..."

"I'm comfortable enough, thank you Sir," Ganymede replied stiffly.

"Just the same," Ranma replied in chilling frankness, "I'd rather you put her down. I'd take it kindly as a favor."

"Dad?" Mace asked, only to receive an elbow in the side from Kinko.

"Are you dense or something?" she stage-whispered, "That's not your Daddy!"

"And what are you supposed to be?" Ranma asked, "Angels don't exactly fit in with the d cor. Well...so much for formal introductions, now...mind telling me how to find the exit? I gotta go hunt down somebody and have some words about his hospitality."

"If you mean Karadon, Sugar," Freya replied, "We were just wondering about that part ourselves. Seems we all got suckered here on some kind of a fool's quest to keep him from destroying reality as we know it..."

"Yeah," Ranma said, "He kinda briefed me that he was up to something like that. Got the strong impression he didn't like me for some reason, not that the feeling ain't mutual..."

"Pardon my asking, Sir," Rhea spoke up, "But how did you come to be entrapped here if you and he were nominal allies?"

"Ask him," Ranma said, "He's the one who double-crossed me. Well, if you're not with Karadon, then I guess that means you guys are okay. Be a real trip hearing how many of you got brought into the world, but right now I'm kinda thinking about taking a powder. If this planetoid thing we're standing on is gonna go boom, like he said, then I'd just as soon not be on it when it happens."

"Where would you go?" Lyn Reikou asked, "We were told the blast would destroy the Multiverse if it happens. Wouldn't it be better for you to team up with us to defeat him?"

"Join with you?" Ranma sniffed, "Tempting, but against Karadon you lot wouldn't stand a chance. He's way too powerful for that, at least if we use the direct method. Maybe if we could distract him it might give us an opening, but you'd have to be awfully quick and strong to exploit it, not to mention be a lot more cunning than he is."

"Is that even possible with a guy like him?" Freya asked.

"Sure," Ranma said with a wily smile, "It's not like he's a God or anything, just an incredibly powerful being wearing the shape of a mere human."

"An incredibly powerful being who caught you by surprise and trapped you here, correct?" Ganymede said, having carefully lowered Shanma to the ground without taking his eyes off the man who closely resembled her father.

Nabiki saw the look the man turned towards the Hermaphroditic Senshi and could all but hear the word, "Dyke" in his thoughts, though he tried to conceal it in his expression.

"I got careless," he said rather coldly, "Doesn't happen very often, but this time I'll know what to do the next time I see that fucker."

(Yeah), Nabiki thought to herself as the image once again appeared clearly in her thoughts, (You'll have us attack him while you make an end-run around to a device you think will send you someplace safe beyond his immediate reach...). The irony did not escape her that it was the sort of thing she might once have done in her days when she routinely played the bench-sitter on the sidelines.

Aloud what she said was, "I don't think so."

She saw Ranma's eyes shift her way, the predator surfacing in his expression, "You gotta problem with that, Nabs?"

"Yes I do," Nabiki said, finding it very easy to get riled up at the use of that hated nick-name, "The problem being that I don't believe that you can be taken at your word. You got trapped because you underestimated the power of a Guardian, and you know it vastly overreaches your own power. Even combined our might assembled here could not begin to prove a challenge...but you already know this. It's a key part of your strategy, isn't it?"

"Mom?" Shanma looked from Nabiki to Ranma, sensing the rising tension between them and not knowing with which pseudo-parent to identify.

"Mom huh?" Ranma sniffed, "Must be a really warped Universe you two hail from. I would've guessed you were from one of those Amazons from China, but it doesn't really make any difference with me..."

"Dad?" Mace blinked his eyes and stared at the men who nominally looked like his father."

"Didn't you hear me before, Baka?" Kinko stood in a defensive posture, "That is not your Dad, he's somebody evil!"

"Evil?" Adam asked.

"Indeed," Sayo lowered her gaze and spoke with surprising force, "I sense that there is no nobility to this version of Father. You can see it in his eyes...they are the cold eyes of a man-slayer, and one who takes pleasure in the suffering of others."

Hiroshi did a very bold thing by putting a hand on her shoulder then voicing aloud his own previously silent observation, "There is a darkness in this man that has little to do with tragedy or sorrow. He has embraced the dark side and has become the darkness."

Ranma's eyes shifted his way, then he scanned over the others and slowly smiled as he read the level of hostility being leveled against him, "So...you caught me. So what?"

"Father?" Moira asked.

"You heard the lady," Ranma smiled, "I'm not your father."

All at once he moved, becoming like a blur of motion, and without further warning he grasped Nabiki by her neck and slammed her against the nearest wall, hard enough to jar her thoughts into a tumble.

"NOBODY MOVE!" he snarled, "First one of you I see twitch so much as a muscle, I pop her head like a champagne cork!"

"So...showing your true colors at last, huh?" Freya turned to Rhea and said, "Shoulda left him where he was, Sugar...this one's a bad apple that fell off the wrong side of the Life Tree."

"You're right," Muku frowned, "He's nothing like my Uncle Ranma!"

"What do we do?" Shanma asked, looking up hopefully at Ganymede.

"Nothing just yet," the tall youth replied, "He has the upper hand...for the moment."

"Think it's gonna change?" Ranma snorted, tightening his pressure against the slender neck of the girl whom he was suspending above the floor, "Don't count on it! I'm not stupid enough to leave anything to chance. I'm leaving here the way I came, before Karadon knows I'm free, but you're welcome to stay here and explain to him how you let me free."

"You never had any intention of fighting him, did you?" Lyn Reikou asked.

"You think I'm stupid?" Ranma retorted, "Karadon's too much for me, but if I leave his Bomb won't have a focus. He can't destroy me over time and space like he wants and I'll be free to go anywhere I like. I can go to ground and he'll never know which timeline I've gone to, and if you have any sense you'll do the same. Don't even think you can talk me down from this...I'm stronger, older and more skilled than any of you, and none of you have a chance of standing up to me in a straight fight."

"WRONG!" Nabiki declared with surprising force, the word surging past the attempt by Ranma to crush the life out of her neck, and when her eyes opened they were blazing like twin miniature supernovas...

Roll Call:

Wanda Kenshiro -Daughter of Ranma and Aila, Fist of the Northstar Minx Tendo -Daughter of Akane and a Wood Sprite, Changeling Ninja

"You should have left with your friends, Girlie," taunted Ryo Muhoshin as he prepared to launch his onslaught, "You might have lasted a little longer..."

"Against you?" Wanda sniffed, "I think not."

"Don't think I've got any compunctions about taking you on," Muhoshin leered, "Women are my specialty, and as big as you are, I'll just bet you blow up real nicely."

"Are we going to do this while we're still young?" Wanda asked, then self-  
corrected her statement, "Oh...excuse me, I forgot, you're feeling a bit ripe at the moment, aren't you?"

"Funny," Muhoshin snarled, "I'm gonna wipe that smile off your face, Sugar-  
lips!"

Unseen and unheard by the pair was a third form perched in a place of concealment, a girl with rainbow colored frizzy hair dressed in Ninja-like garb hissed like a cat and snarled, "Nasty dead guy no get away with that. Big stuff take care, no problem...but Minx help if she needed."

The slightly built Muhoshin would have hardly impressed anyone as a towering figure of terror and depravity, and when contrasted with Wanda's considerable size and bulk, he actually appeared quite puny. When he moved, however, he was blindingly swift and his attack was nearly flawless, his umbrella making up for his lack of physical reach, not that Wanda was giving him the opening he expected, proving her own greater mass in no way impeded her speed, agility and ability to dodge swiftly. She batted aside the innumerable thrusts that tested her defenses and easily avoided many of the more complex maneuvers he tried to use to get her to lower her guard or give him an opening in which to thrust. Similarly Wanda could not penetrate his defenses with her counter-offensive, her hands constantly batted away from finding their mark so that she could not come anywhere within reach of her target, effectively rendering their opening moves a mere stand-off.

But neither party had even begun to call upon their resources as the two of them fell back and began to summon up their Ki-levels. Wanda's body began to glow with a blue-white radiance as energy that permeated the air flowed into her every pore and supercharged her towering form with incredible reserves of power. Muhoshin's by contrast was a nearly black aura that filtered in through his every pore and caused the slight man to grow slightly more bulky than his usual gangly appearance. In the air between the two of them their conflicting energy fields caused an ionizing effect that crackled like lightning and causing the narrow entire chamber in which they stood to dance with the unearthly light of their countervailing battle auras.

"Whoops!" Minx reacted, "Big Stuff and Nasty go big flare...good time Minx make scarce!"

And with that the rainbow-haired moppet dove into the very wall beside her, flowing through stone as though it were as fluid as water.

Wanda broke the impasse by moving a hand forward with a surge of blue-white energy that lashed out at Muhoshin, who blocked and absorbed this attack against his own sinister aura. Muhoshin counter-attacked and his blast caused the walls of the chamber to rattle as loose bits of ceiling were made to rain all around them. A piece the size of a small house fell over Wanda's head and was shattered to gravel without even slightly affecting her concentration. In no other way did she seem to be affected by Muhoshin's attack, and when it was expended she was ready to raise things to the next level.

Wanda concentrated her power, shouting to intensify her Ki as her aura increased in brightness and magnitude. All at once she surged forward, her power concentrated into her hands as she lashed out at her foe, but Muhoshin was also prepared to receive this renewed onslaught and absorbed the punishment, then came back with his own efforts redoubled, his aura growing so black that it nearly assumed the mantle of a kind of aura, and his umbrella spiraling with black coils of force like a self-contained dark whirlwind.

The effect of their twin powers caused the chamber walls to be blasted with the scorching effect of two opposing energies meeting, colliding and canceling each other out. Mere stone could not contain such titanic energies and so the walls began to peel and crumble all around them, threatening to entomb the pair in the ensuing rubble. Before that could happen the stones atomized and were reduced to their raw elemental state of plasma, which only increased the pressure on the outer walls as the forces intensified and drove these superheated gasses further outward. Even still the pressure did not relent as the pair continued their outpouring of conflicting energies, smashing each other time and again with forces that could shatter entire mountains, and all the while pounding at each other's defenses, creating shockwaves that excited these already energized particles of air and ignited them like a fusion reactor. Contained within the walls of the asteroid as these forces soon became there was no where else to go but outward, exploding with such force that the caverns themselves were shattered in all directions...

Roll Call:

Ryoma Saotome -Son of Ukyo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Inaho and Mosquiton the Vampire, 1/8th Vampyr Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Shampoo and Konatsu, Mage/Wicca in training Tachi Kuno -Son of Nabiki and Tatewaki, Nampo Kendo Ryu Efreet Mizuhara -Adopted daughter of Ifurita and Makoto, Demon-Goddess Minos Tarot -Son of Kasumi and Pantsaru, Shotokan Ryu Onnama Saotome -Daughter of Tatewaki and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Touga Kuno -Son of Ranma and Tatewaki, Daimyo, Kendo Master Ryonosuke Senzenen -Son of (?) and Mikado Senzenen, Family Retainer Xandar Kurunei -Son of Kaori and Sasuke, House Ninja Yoriko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and (?), House Ninja Ryeka Masaki -Daughter of Ayeka and Ryoko, Princess of the Jurai Ayane Tofu -Daughter of Kasumi and Korato, a Saiyajin Warrior

Absolute white, total nothingness, utter and complete oblivion yawned for the party as they stood grouped around the enigmatic being known to them only by the name of Korato. With a simple gesture he sought to cast them into nothing, to erase them utterly and completely from the slate of existence, and clearly he had the power to achieve this as unimaginable forces filled the room in all directions.

But when the flash of light and energy passed, it was to no little astonishment that the party found themselves still there, nothing having appreciably changed for all concerned. Of those present, however, none was more surprised at this development than Karadon himself, who stared in dismay at the astonished faces all around him then said, "WHAT? What insanity is this? You still live?"

"Yeah," Ryoma responded, still noticeably shaken though he was rallying his usual confidence as he replied, "Funny about that...maybe you forgot to pay your electric bill or something, d'ya think?"

"Silence cretin!" the lordly being sneered as he glanced around, "There can be only one explanation for your continued annoyance...DEREK, YOU SWINE! SHOW YOURSELF, YOU SOULESS BASTARD!"

"Takes one to know one, doesn't it?" said another figure who appeared from seeming nowhere, "You were trying to cheat by removing pieces from the game. You could hardly expect me to stand back and do nothing, did you?"

"CHEATING?" Karadon all but exploded, "You have been seeding this reality with these Nerima-spawned lice and you have the gall to accuse me of cheating?"

"Well," Derek drawled, "Considering that you were about to wipe out all of their realities, I thought it was only fair that these young people should have a say in determining the outcome of this encounter. After all, they do have a stake in their continuing existence, which you are so intent on eliminating due to your perverted ideals and petty grudge against their father, Saotome Ranma."

"Say what?" Minos declared.

"He is the one who seeks an end to our existence?" Touga frowned.

"And that other guy is the one who's been yanking our chain all over the place," Tachi duly noted.

"So, which of them is the real bad guy?" Onnama asked, "If we're just pawns in some game being played between these two..."

"I'm nobody's pawn," Ayane declared.

"Anybody mistakes me for a pawn is gonna get rooked!" Ryeka declared as her energy sword appeared once more in her hand.

"You pathetic rug-rats are no match for the likes of me," Karadon declared, "You have no idea of the nature of the power you would tempt, and were it not for my misguided brother's meddlesome interference..."

"Actually, that's always been your problem, Karadon," Derek remarked, "You dismiss the importance of these mortals and rely too much upon your nature as a Guardian, but you have ignored one rather glaringly obvious fact in all this..."

"You mean your ability to penetrate the shield I erected around my fortress?" Karadon asked, "I never thought the generator would be able to keep you out anyway, and you've tested it often enough by sending your agents through the timefield. But your best efforts are for nothing, I will still destroy them all when my device reaches the proper temporal alignments, and even you cannot prevent this."

"Actually that wasn't what I was referring to at all," Derek sniffed, "And if you had allowed me to finish my statement you would have known that you have already lost this encounter. The shield is completely down, thanks to the efforts of a couple of volunteers whom I did not even have to recruit. The real point I was attempting to make, however, is that you stand surrounded by some of the finest examples of the reality that you so contemptuously dismiss out of hand, and their combined power is enough that even a former Guardian such as you should tread with caution lest they defeat you."

"DEFEAT ME?" Karadon roared, "Your arrogance is outweighed by your presumption! I am still a member of the order to To-Lo-Chi and I will not be taken down by the likes of mere children-AAARRRGGHHH!"

"You were saying?" Derek smiled as a figure suddenly attached itself to Karadon's backside and bit down hard into the neck of the Guardian, "You forgot the cardinal rule of assuming a mortal body...you accept token limitations roughly equivalent to that of the mortal you are imitating."

"Carmine-chan?" Efreet asked cautiously, seeing her longtime companion draw first blood in the encounter.

Carmine had acted on her own from an instinctive impulse born as much from inspiration as desperation, yielding to her bloodlust though the neck that she bit into that did not truly belong to anything remotely even human. The Karadon whom she clung to was only a mere projection, a physical shell housing but a tiny essence of the full being that it represented, but that was enough for the Vampyr to tap into and drain even a partial drop of that essence, and the resulting flood of energies flooded into her being, energizing every cell in her body to superhuman levels!

"AWAY!" Karadon shook her off almost at once, then felt along the trail of moisture that dripped over his neckline, staring incomprehensibly at the impossible that stained his fingers. In stunned disbelief mingled with outrage he cried, "YOU BIT ME! YOU INSUFFERABLE INSECT...!"

Carmine did not reply, crouching as she did with an animalistic snarl as her eyes flared a bright red, baring her fangs in a snarl that was altogether inhuman.

"Oh my," Tarot exclaimed, "The blood has transfigured her...she is no longer even part mortal..."

"Didn't I just tell you?" Derek smiled, "They are more than they seem. Ignore them at your peril." He turned to Ryoma and said, "You don't need any further help from me, and this is your fight anyway, Saotome. Use your resources well, and don't you underestimate him as the odds look fairly even from where I'm standing."

"Are you serious?" Ryoma frowned, turning to stare at the enraged renegade Guardian.

"It seems we have no choice but to do our part, Brother," Touga replied, "A pity my best men will not be able to assist us in this battle..."

"Oh yes," Derek turned to the fallen Ninja, "I had almost forgotten about them. No sense going into battle without all of the players intact."

"But...they are dying," Ryonosuke exclaimed in dismay and grief.

"No excuse for laying down on the job," Derek extended his hand and a glow surrounded the two fallen figures.

Xandar and Yoriko stirred, then sat up and looked at one another, then turned questioning looks towards their Master, Touga, who looked on at this miracle with a frankly disbelieving expression.

"We-we're alive..." Yoriko gasped.

"But how-?" Xandar started to say when the entire chamber was rocked by a tremendous detonation, a blast of energy flowing past them from the tunnel down which they had traveled to reach this chamber. The ground shook and the ceiling began raining pebble-sized fragments upon them.

"Ah," Derek remarked, "That's my signal to leave. Sayonara."

And with that he faded out from view, leaving everyone-including Karadon-in a state of relative confusion.

"What the heck was that?" Onnama gasped.

"Felt like somebody blew the top off a mountain," Efreet remarked, then turned back to the real object of her concern, "Carmine-chan? Are you still there? Ah...don't take me wrong, but you're looking a little scary...I mean...scarier than usual..."

The crimson-haired Vampyr just smiled as her body began to be surrounded by a golden-red battle aura, and then without warning she flew through the air at Karadon, who saw her coming and sneered as he raised his hand as if to swat her contemptfully out of the air, only to recoil from a fist in his face as Ayane beat the Vampire to the punch and struck him solid.

All at once Ryeka teleported behind the renegade Guardian and took a swipe at him with her blazing sword, scoring a direct hit that did not so much harm the man as cause him to react in pain. As he started to recover the Vampyr attacked with claws that raked his handsome cheek, and then she delivered a mighty blow that actually staggered him slightly.

"YOU FOOLS!" Karadon snarled as his body radiated new power and he shrugged off the attacking Carmine with the ease of a duck shedding water, "NOTHING YOU COULD POSSIBLY DO WILL HAVE ANY EFFECT ON ME! I AM INVINCIBLE, IMMORTAL-!"

A blast of tremendous energy struck him full in the chest, cutting off his declaration in mid-tirade. With cool disdain, Muku-Dori held her arm ready for a second energy burst and said, "And a sitting target. I couldn't miss that mouth from here if I tried!"

"YOU-!" Karadon started to cry when an even more powerful burst caught him full in the back.

"YOU!" Efreet declared as she held her smoldering key-staff, "You hurt my friend, turned her into her wild beast aspect with your blood! Now you're going to pay!"

Karadon did not even get a chance to make another statement before yet another energy sword struck him from his blind side, this time wielded by the Iczer known as Rhea, whose attack was even less easily shrugged off than Ryeka's Juraian-backed energy blade, or Ayane's Saiyajin-born strength as she drove a fist into the renegade's solar plexus, and even a being of manifest power had to take into account the tremendous punishment being dealt out from all directions.

"This is getting us nowhere," Touga said as he stood with his minions.

"Huh?" Onnama looked at him in confusion, "Are you kidding? Looks to me like our side is winning!"

"No," Ryonosuke replied, "Look again...he is enduring those attacks and showing little evidence of taking any real damage. In another minute he may recover his bearings and attack in earnest...and I doubt seriously that we could withstand the full extent of his might."

"You're probably right about that," Tachi said, "All we're doing is keeping him off balance, but that won't last for very long, and when he gets his second wind, we're toast."

"Maybe not," Ryoma turned a glance towards the miniature Eye of God dominating the chamber, "That thing is the key! If we smash that or put it out of commission..."

"I follow you," Minos nodded grimly, "We gotta get people up there to do some serious ball wrecking."

"Hey, Sis," Ryoma turned to Onnama, "Do you know the Bakusai Tenketsu?"

"Huh?" the redhead blinked her eyes, "Sure...why do you-oh! I get it!"

"But how can we get her to the device, Lord?" Yoriko asked.

"I think the question should include all of us," Xander corrected, "We're not able to contribute to the fight on this end, but we each have skills that could prove useful if the aim is sabotage...a specialty of we Ninja."

"Glad you guys are on our side," Ryoma smirked, "Tarot-chan...we need a ride up there, think you can manage it?"

"You insult me to imply that I could not," Tarot sniffed, then made complex finger and hand motions that caused a ring of light to appear all around them, and all at once it rose up to vanish them from the area, only to make them reappear again on a metal floor with a wall to one side and open space looming out to the other.

"Where are we now?" Minos asked.

"In the eye of trouble, I believe," Touga remarked as he looked upward.

"Huh?" Onnama asked, following his example, "What d'ya men-oboy."

"My lord?" Ryonosuke swallowed.

"Oh my," Yoriko murmured.

"My thoughts exactly," Xander agreed as he, too, recognized the unblinking eye on the side of the ball under whose lip they were standing...an eye so huge it looked at though it could swallow up a mountain.

"Well, you wanted to get up here," Tarot noted.

"Yeah," Ryoma agreed, "Looks like we're gonna have our work cut out for us this time."

Flashes from the ongoing battle briefly drew their attention back towards the ledge where the battle was ongoing. They collectively winced as they saw the battering that Karadon was receiving from their allies, all of which he seemed to shrug off, as though he were fighting mere children.

"That's not gonna last long," Minos said, "I think we'd better move fast before he notices what we're up to."

"And when he does find out," Onnama said, "He's not gonna feel happy..."

"All the more reason to move forward," Touga nodded, "After you, sweet Enchantress."

"Why Prince," Tarot smiled, "You say the nicest things to a lady."

Ryoma's eyes narrowed slightly, but for the moment he refrained from offering any comment...

Roll Call:

Team Alpha-Zero,  
Wing Gundam Training Unit

Akira Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Yuki (17) Pilot: Firebird Urika Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Konatsu (17) Pilot: Iron Chef Saber Kuno -Daughter of Shampoo and Kodachi (16) Pilot: Steel Serpent Trolla Galt -Zentraedi Clone-sister to Mireya (15) Pilot: Steelshark Dana Stirling -Daughter of Max and Mireya (10) Pilot: Sunstone

Ekko Daitokuji -Daughter of Aiko and Beiko,  
Lylac Tendo -Daughter of Shampoo and Nabiki,  
Tenko Masaki -Daughter of Ryoko and Tenchi,  
Veil Morisato -Daughter of Belldandy and Keiichi,

"What the heck was that?" Akira exclaimed as the sounds of a nearby explosion reverberated through the air, land and even the tough metal hides of their Gundam Veritechs.

"Readings off the scale, LT," Dana promptly responded, "There was a massive explosion centered about one-point-five clicks from here, about fifty thousand PSI directed in an outward direction about a quarter turn around the asteroid."

"Confirm that reading, Unit Leader," Saber affirmed, "Two massive energy readings are generating a huge ball of plasma that's being directed in a jet skyward, about thirty degrees away from our position."

"Good thing too," Trolla said, "Or we might have gotten fried by that burst. That was way too close for my liking..."

"You got that right, Sugar," Urika agreed, "The kind of energy readings I'm picking up could be a serious problem, even for our Gundanium alloyed hides. I'm monitoring the situation just in case it comes any closer to our position, but I'm thinking maybe we should get prepped for immediate take off, just in case an evacuation is in order."

"Roger that," Akira said, "Make it so. Heat up the Verniers, girls, looks like we may be going back into battle."

The others signified their acknowledgement while-outside of their giant mecha-  
-Lylac was shielding her eyes and saying, "Whatever the heck that was, it sounded almost like a baby Nuke went off!"

"Unlikely," Ekko remarked, "A Nuclear device exploding this close to our current position would have generated a plasma wind that would incinerate human flesh within an instant."

"Do you always have to be so analytical?" Lylac complained, "Would it hurt to show a little emotion when we're this close to total disaster?"

The redhead turned an amused look at her purple haired companion and said, "I'm touched that you are concerned about the state of my emotional health, but I assure you that we are presently in no great personal danger. Friend Tenko is shielding us from any harmful shockwave or dangerous radiation levels, and besides...the shields are down around this Asteroid, meaning that Aunt Sasami can retrieve us within an instant."

"Right," Tenko agreed, "Aunt Sasami is monitoring the situation and is prepared to do whatever it takes to insure our safety, and the destruction of this accursed planetoid."

"And when you have the backing of the most powerful starship in the Galaxy, that is no minor thing," Veil agreed, "Yet I am concerned about the battles that I am sensing all around us. There is great power at play and the stakes are higher than before when last we went into battle."

"What?" Lylac exclaimed, "Are you saying this is worse than that Demon-God nonsense we went through a few days back? That's...scary!"

"Indeed," Ekko nodded, "It is a matter of great concern, the more so as I do not perceive that we can do much at this point to affect the outcome in favor of our side."

"It's enough that we are here where we can make a difference," Tenko reasoned, "If the occasion should arise where our abilities will be needed..."

"Then we will arise to the occasion," Veil agreed, sharing a look of fondness with her Juraian companion.

"Swell," Lylac sniffed, "Then maybe someone could tell me what I'm doing here. I'm just a glorified pugilist. I've got some fancy moves, but I'm really nothing special..."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that about you," Ekko mused, "You're very special to me, and I know you have exceptional qualities, among which is your status as a Temporal Nexus."

"Hah, that and a ten-spot will barely get me into a cheap concert," Lylac started to reply when she felt an odd tingling sensation that was altogether too disturbingly familiar, "What? No way!"

"Eh?" Ekko caught the note of alarm in her companion and saw that Lylac was fading out of view, which did indeed succeed in getting an emotional rise out of her, "Ly-chan? What is happening...you are being recalled by the pendant?"

"What do you bloody well think it means-I'll sue!" Lylac's fading voice rang out, "Ranko! You can't keep doing this to-"

"She's gone," Tenko exclaimed in surprise.

"No," Veil disagreed, "She's been absorbed...she and several others who are like her!"

"Absorbed?" Ekko turned a questioning look towards the young Demi-Goddess, "Absorbed into...no! You don't mean...?"

"What?" Tenko asked, feeling oddly excluded from the comprehending expressions of her companions, most especially the one whom she felt closer to than any sibling.

Akira felt a similar tingling sensation as she leaned back in her cockpit, but unlike with Lylac the sensation was transitory, and in the end she found herself still where she was, if only a bit dizzy with the odd sense of having made brief contact with minds other than her own. She was about to ask if any other member of her team had experienced the same phenomenon when-all at once-one of her monitor screens flashed to life and displayed the image of a complete stranger, a handsome looking man of indeterminable years who was smiling at her in an almost annoyingly familiar manner.

"Team Alpha-Zero, Gundam Unit," the man said by way of introduction, "Do you read me?"

"Who the hell are you?" Akira snapped before she had time to recall the proper protocols and said, "Identify yourself, please."

"Who I am is unimportant," the man replied, "But I thought it would interest you if I told you of a way that you and your team could earn their way back to where you came from."

"Earn?" Urika asked rather archly, "What do you mean by that, Sugar?"

"I mean that I am the one who brought you here to perform a mission," the figure replied, "Of course I understand how that must seem to loyal members of the USDF, but seeing as we are all facing a moment of crisis, I thought it would be in your interest to resolve a vital matter of interplanetary significance. Are you interested?"

"Why should we be interested in anything you say?" Saber challenged, but Akira decided that she had had quite enough of the free-flowing communications style that she had permitted in her team so far.

"Belay that," she said, "Keep talking, Mister, we're listening."

"Good," the man smiled, "I see that I was not wrong in estimating the level of your intelligence. There is little time to explain...I am feeding the relevant data into your units as we speak, and your mission-should you choose to accept it-is to use those formidable fighting machines in the manner for which they are best suited. On your displays you will see the diagram of a particular target that I want you to go after. It contains the core of a very powerful device that must not be activated at any cost. If you will do this, then I will restore you to your time and place no worse for the wearing."

"And why should we trust you?" Akira asked, "If you don't mind me asking that, do you?"

"I should be very surprised if you did not ask such an obvious question," the man replied without losing his jaunty good humor, "Because I am asking you nicely, and I have the power to send you wherever I like, even to someplace unpleasant if it suited my fancy."

"Hmmm...good answer," Akira grudgingly admitted.

"You need not take my word for anything," the man said graciously, "Do your own surveys and see if the information I have given you matches accordingly with your own sensory readings."

"Ah..." Dana broke in, "I've already done that, LT, and I can definitely confirm that it is a device of enormous destructive potential. It might even be the trigger mechanism that activates the giant bomb we're sitting on top of."

"You see?" the man's eyes gleamed with amusement, "I wouldn't lie over something this important. Do the math for yourself, then act as you would. Choose freely how to conduct yourselves in what little time there is left before the final moments are upon us all."

"Hmm..." Akira studied her own displays as the man's face disappeared from the monitors, then after a brief reflection on the implications of the data she said, "All Units...do you comply with these readings?"

"You know I do, LT," Dana answered.

"This definitely matches with my own estimation," Saber concurred.

"Looks like that guy wasn't bluffing," Urika agreed, "But it's still your call, Sugar."

"Tell us what to do, Akira-chan," Trolla said, "You know that I will back your decisions."

"This is a volunteer mission," Akira said as she saw four faces appear on her main screen, the faces of her friends and fellow teammates, "I won't hold it against anybody if you choose to back out. Are you with me?"

"HAI!" all four of her fellow pilots responded together.

"Yeah," Akira allowed herself a slight smile as she fully powered up her Gundam, "Kinda figured that. Well...all units form on my wings...we're going at it for the brass ring. Lift off now and regroup in position Nine-by-six-niner..."

"Why Akira-chan," Trolla purred, "You happen to have just named my favorite number."

"Assuming you can tell which end to lick," Urika retorted with a sour expression.

"Can't you guys give it a rest for once?" Dana complained, "Even for a minute?"

"Now what would be the fun in that?" Saber retorted as Akira rolled her eyes once again then shook her head in dismay at her recent surge in popularity among her fellow pilots.

"Prime all weapons," Akira ordered as the five giant mecha lifted off and shifted to their winged-jet configurations, "Lock and load then follow me. Let's do this one by the numbers, team!"

And with that they plunged towards the giant pit that had just been dug into the side of the asteroid, flying into the void past the ruins of countless security devices, by-passing the ongoing struggle between Wanda and Muhoshin as they found a now-exposed shaft leading into the interior ring of the asteroid along the path charted for them that would skirt the very heart of a dwarf white star that stood at the center, poised on the verge of imploding to full black hole status...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Plot Twists Unlimited: shadowmane

The battle rages in full gear as Nabiki faces the Evil Ranma in a no-holds barred battle royale, but what of her true husband and the rest of the party that came with her? Will Karadon squash all challengers and void Derek's plans in the end, and do the heroes really have a chance at victory (however slim)? Stay tuned for the answer to this and many another questions in, "Fits of Fury," or "As the Fur Flies!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	28. Chapter 28

RanCubed27

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and Others,  
including my fellow fanfic writers, Nicole Manders, Trella,  
Gregg Sharp and DB Sommers, who provided some of the characters and concepts that have appeared in this series, and to TH Tiger for his generous support and advice in the writing of this and many other projects)

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

End Run

Continuity # 87219654

"Time to optimal firing?" Sasami asked.

"Four minutes, thirty-seven seconds and counting," Washu replied, "But you knew that already. What's wrong, Sasami, getting nervous?"

"Not exactly," Sasami replied, "But when we're riding the razor's edge this close timewise, it can seem awfully scary. What happens if we don't do things just right? How will I ever be able to look Ayeka in the eye and explain that I let her children go into battle without them? Just imagine what Ryoko is going to say when she hears about this..."

"You know why we had to do this without those to overly emotional hotheads," Washu remarked, "And if we're going to do this just right we need to rely on the kids, who are well trained and disciplined for this kind of operation. Well...Tenko and Teneka, maybe, but they can usually keep Ryeka and Kihoshi in line..."

"Right," Sasami nodded, "It's just that...wait a minute! I've got an energy reading it's coming from the deck of my ship...what?"

A flash of light heralded the appearance of several distaff figures who found themselves in strangely unfamiliar surroundings without prior warning, rhyme or reason.

"What in the name of Dow Jones?" Yuan-Yen looked around at a bridge that looked more like a botanical garden.

"Hey, don't look at me," Tachi turned to her counterpart, "I was just in the middle of negotiations for a family armistice when I suddenly wind up here. What gives?"

"Sacred ancestors..." Nutmeg breathed.

"Indeed," Bonbon remarked, "I sense...a great convergence of the Force within this dome..."

"Excuse me," Sasami said politely, "Not to be rude or anything...but...would you mind explaining who you people are and what you are doing on my ship?"

"Ship?" Yuan-Yen blinked, "This is a ship? You mean we're been sent into the middle of some ocean voyage..."

"Ah...not quite," Tachi said as she pointed towards one of the dome-like windows of the biospheric hull, beyond which could be clearly seen a star pattern with the moon at one side and a tiny blue-and-orange globe somewhat more distant on the horizon.

"Oh," Yuan-Yen remarked, instantly comprehending the scope of the situation.

"We are...in space?" Nutmeg also proved remarkably quick on the uptake.

"Quite apparently so," Bonbon observed, "We are in near-lunar orbit on board a ship of the Jurai fleet...their most powerful vessel no less, a ship I believe is known by the name of Tsunami."

"You...know about my ship?" Sasami asked, "Who are you people? And did you get here without my allowing it?"

"The answer to both is simpler than you think, Princess," a man said, as he appeared beside her, startling the normally unflappable Sasami, "I brought them here to this safe haven where they are well protected. My name is Derek, and I am the one responsible for the current activities of your kinswomen."

"You?" Sasami blinked, "But..."

"Why don't we watch what is happening on that satellite that you about to destroy," Derek smiled as he pointed to an area where three squares of light formed into three monitor screens, "Things are about to get very interesting indeed, and I do believe that you should witness these heroes in their impending moments of glory."

Sasami and her unexpected guests turned to see one of the three images that formed, and with a gasp Yuan-Yen cried, "Look...it's Mom!"

"Yeah," Tachi said in disbelief, "But she's fighting against...uncle Ranma...?"

Roll Call:

Nabiki Saotome -Time Patrol Dispatcher, Lore Master Freya Kuno -Goddess of Love and Battles, Valkyrie Lyn Reikou Kuno -Daughter of Freya and Kuno, Valkyrie in Training Sayo Sanosuke -Daughter of Kasumi and Ranma, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Hiroshi Honsamu - Son of Maki and Takai of the Dark World, Exorcist Ganymede Kuonji -Son of Makoto and Ukyo, Senshi in Training Shanma Saotome -Daughter of Shampoo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Mace Saotome -Son of Shampoo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Kinko Kuonji -Daughter of Akane and Ukyo, part-time Angel Adam Saotome -Son of Ranma and Azusa, Cyborg Moira Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Azusa, Cyborg Muku Dori Senzenen -Daughter of Akane and Mikado, Iczellion Warrior, partner to Rhea Rhea Kano -Iczer Four, daughter of Nagisa and Iczer-One

The Ranma holding his chosen hostage tightly was caught completely by surprise when his nominal "victim" suddenly blazed to life, bursting with energy that forced him to let go of her throat and back away in disbelief and amazement.

"Whaaat...?" he reacted, "That's a new one...when did you learn to do that?"

"Surprised...Animal?" Nabiki blazed, and then the force surrounding her lashed out and struck the arrogant man and sent him flying backward into a wall with bone-jarring force. Unfortunately her rage was short lived as she was too much out of breath to sustain her efforts, and so the force issuing through her subsided as she coughed and felt along her neck, which was reddened by handprints.

"Mom...are you okay?" Shanma asked.

"What did he do to you?" Mace said in outrage.

"Whoever that guy is, he isn't Uncle Ranma, that's for damned sure," Muku declared hotly.

"He's evil?" Moira asked.

"Apparently so," Ganymede replied, "Better stay on your guard, he's still standing."

"Whoah!" the man who looked like Ranma said as he shrugged off the attack and stood away from the wall, "What the hell was that? You did that, Tendo? I'm almost impressed!"

Freya's hands flashed with light and a sword was suddenly thrust under Ranma's chin as the fiery haired Goddess growled, "Y'all better stand right where you are or you'll be breathing out of your neck, tough guy. Don't think I'm Joshin' you either...I've got more notches in my belt, and one more Black Guard won't bother me any."

"You call that a threat?" the blue eyes of the dark haired man replied, and all at once his image blurred, and all at once the Goddess found her sword had been swept aside and she was being driven back by a solid blow that knocked her sailing backwards as though struck by Thor's hammer.

"WHAT THE-?" Lyn Reikou exclaimed, "Impossible!"

"How could he move so fast?" Hiroshi asked in astonishment.

"Trade secret," this Ranma smirked, and then shifted his eyes towards Muku and Rhea, who were blocking his line of retreat through the only exit, "You want some of that too, kids?"

"Don't you call us kids, you Jerk!" Muku snarled, "You hurt my Aunt Nabiki, you're gonna pay for that!"

"Uh..." Rhea paused, glancing down at herself, "Muku-chan...?"

"Huh?" Muku glanced at her partner, then at herself and said, "What the hell...?"

Without further warning the pair glowed brightly and then vanished. Their disappearance took everyone by surprise, not least of whom was the sinister Ranma.

"What did you do to them?" Lyn Reikou demanded.

"Who, me?" Ranma sniffed, "Not my doing, maybe they just wanted to powder their noses or something-huh?"

"JUPITER MOON THUNDER!" Ganymede cried as the Senshi fired off an energy attack that just missed its target as Ranma dodged to the side at the last instant. All at once Ranma gripped the tall boy by the chest and slammed him into the nearest wall, stunning the slighter youth in much the same manner with which he had earlier surprised Nabiki.

"Neat trick," Ranma sneered, "You guys are just full of surprises. Too bad shouting like that gave away your intentions or you might have caught me flat-  
footed. Don't see why a Dyke like you should be hanging around with my alleged daughter, but..."

"YOU LET HIM GO!" a voice cried in outrage, and to Shanma's own surprise it was herself snarling those words as she lurched to her feet, ignoring her still-  
throbbing ankle.

"Hum?" Ranma blinked, then glanced down at the crotch of what he had taken to be a Bishonen-looking girl, then without warning placed his free hand on that crotch and squeezed until Ganymede went cross-eyed, "Well, I'll be a Panda's nephew, so that's it, huh? Got the best of both worlds working for ya, ain'tcha honey?"

"I SAID LET HIM GO!" Shanma snarled, launching into a flying kick aimed at the backside of a man she no longer could view as her father, only to have Ranma whirl around and interpose the stunned Ganymede in the path of her foot. Unfortunately for both Cat-girl and Hermaphrodite, the foot was dead-center on the back of Ganymede's head, knocking him senseless before she could blunt the force of her kick, which she attempted to do at the last instant.

"Sis!" Mace cried out, seeing Shanma go down into a heap with her nominal "boyfriend."

"On second thought," Ranma snorted, "You two probably deserve each other."

"BASTARD!" Kinko cried as she launched her own unique attack, lashing out with her wings, which each had force enough to break a man in half. Her aim was good, but Ranma was no longer standing where she aimed. Instead he appeared directly behind her and with one careful and precisely aimed blow sent her sprawling on the floor, having caught her in an off-balanced and highly vulnerable position.

"That's all I need, another bird brain," Ranma sneered as he turned away to find a shocked looking Mace blocking his path, and for a moment he hesitated, seeing the cat-face of the boy as the very embodiment of a nightmare.

"Why?" Mace snarled, rage filling him as he stared at a man who was the very opposite of every aspect of what he knew to be his father, "WHY?" and he lunged for Ranma, slashing out with claws that raked across the chest of the man as Ranma hastily lunged backwards.

"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU FREAK!" Ranma cried as he lashed out at the boy, brushing aside Mace's defenses as though the purple furred boy were moving through icewater, then smashing him with a good right that laid the boy out like a snuffed candle.

"Father-STOP!" Adam surged forward.

"Don't do this!" Moira seconded as she also tried to restrain the marauding martial artist, but Ranma saw them coming and gripped both Cyborgs by their outstretched arms and employed prompt leverage to drive the two of them together. Both brother and sister went down in a heap, momentarily stunned and effectively rendered out of action.

This time when Ranma turned to leave he found two remaining figures blocking his path, Hiroshi and a very grim-faced Sayo. The boy in priestly garb had his prayer beads wound around one hand with the other hand raised in the motions of a prayer. He dismissed these two with a glance and said, "Outta my way or you'll get hurt!"

"No, Father," Sayo replied as she stood at the ready, hands at her sides while her posture was relaxed though her eyes were full of unreadable emotions, "I cannot."

"I've erected a ward over the exit that you cannot pass without knowing the counter," Hiroshi said, "You can't get away from us now, no matter how good a fighter you are."

"Then I guess I ought to take you out next, huh prayer-boy?" Ranma said as his form once again became a blur of blindingly swift motion.

To his astonishment, though, one other moved as swiftly as he did, her body a fluid study in perfect coordination between mind and body, her hand going to her Sakaba blade before he had even realized that she had moved, and though his speed was superhuman, she was faster by far as she rushed towards him in a single lunge that started with her right foot surging forward and immediately shifted to her left foot as the blade hissed from its scabbard and whipped past him, and then all at once he felt as though she had divided into nine different people, all of them striking him at once at all of his exposed vital areas, then finishing off with a final backward blow from her blunt-bladed sword that caught him from behind and threw him into the air as though she had struck him with colossal flyswatter.

He struck the floor in a stunned heap and rolled for a time until reaching the far wall. There he lay in a daze, unable to believe that there was anyone or anything else in the world that could compete with him in an area where he had enjoyed absolute supremacy for over two decades. As he lay there absorbing the fact that he had been undone by a weapon's user-of all things-he dimly heard Freya's voice as the recovering Goddess said, "Nice work, Hon...that was some mighty fine bladework."

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Final Attack," Sayo replied matter-of-factly, "The ultimate finishing move of my teacher's system. It cannot be defended against or avoided, for it uses an opponent's speed against him."

"I can't believe that he could do something like that to you, Mom," Lyn Reikou exclaimed in tones of disbelief.

"I know," Freya replied, "Never saw a mortal move that fast, and he caught me off-guard with that energized palm-thrust."

"They call it God-Speed, Lady Freya," Sayo replied, "The ability to increase one's speed by the ultimate mastery of the will over time and space. I could see him moving where others might see only a blur, and I knew how to counter his attacks. He will be unable to move for several minutes now, but I would recommend that he be restrained before that can happen."

"Good idea," said Nabiki, who had finally recovered from her own attack, "He's too dangerous to be allowed to move around...in fact, I'd say letting him live was a pretty bad idea. She's nothing like my Ranma, he's just a cold and merciless killer."

"Fine by me," Freya called up her blade, "I can tell at a glance that this guy's destined for a cold, dark spot in Hell's shadowy lair."

"I understand the danger of letting him be around," Hiroshi said, "But is murdering a defeated and unarmed man..."

"I sympathize with your ideals," Nabiki said, "But we're not in a position where we can afford the luxury of merely restraining this bastard. He may look like my husband but he's nothing like the Ranma we all know...he's nothing but a calculating butcher. He can slip out of knots and undo any bindings we might impose on him. Given the way he could just wade through our ranks with impunity, I don't think it's in our best interests to leave him still breathing."

"But how can you be so cold about this, Lady?" Adam asked, "He may be a warped and distorted image of our father, but he is still Saotome Ranma."

"And our father would never approve of the killing of an unarmed man," Moira agreed, "I'm sorry, there must be another way..."

"You think I wouldn't suggest one if I knew of a safe way to let him live?" Nabiki said, "My husband wouldn't even hesitate to terminate his life. My Ranma knows the value of human life can be measured against that of a predator who is simply a life taker..."

"You sound like you're gotten all righteous in your old age, Tendo," chuckled the fallen Ranma, who was even then attempting to push himself back to his feet, "Not like you were any sweet angel of innocence as I remember things..."

"What?" Freya looked shocked, "He can still move?"

"Incredible," Sayo remarked, "I held nothing back in my strike, yet still he has managed to recover in an amazingly short span of time..."

"I think we'd better get ready," Hiroshi cautioned, "Round two may just beginning..."

Lyn Reikou's hands flashed and she was suddenly holding a wicked looking spear in her hands, "He'd better not try anything this time, or I'm gonna make him sorry he laid a hand on you, Mom."

"Relax," Ranma said as she got to his feet, "You don't have time to waste going at it with me, just like I don't have time to waste with you losers. In case you forgot, we're standing on a giant powder keg, and Karadon plans to set this firecracker off at any second. I'm leaving whether you like it or not, and if you've got any sense at all you'll do the same damned thing."

"And you think that I'm going to just let you walk out of here?" Nabiki said, "I know what you've done, I know all about the blood on your hands, and this time I'm ready for anything you try, Mister. You think you're hot stuff? You've never seen what I can do when I get angry."

"Yeah, I can tell you've picked up a few tricks," Ranma sniffed, "So why don't we make a little deal here, Tendo...call it a temporary truce. I don't go after you, you don't get in my way, and we both live another day. Sound fair?"

"One question," Freya said, "Why exactly did you and this Karadon guy have a falling out in the first place, Sugar?"

"That's easy," Ranma sneered, "He wants to wipe out every version of me that's in existence, but to do that he needed a template to focus his bomb doohickey on, and without me he can't hit all the Ranma's in reality, so it's in your best interest to let me go if you really did get hitched to another version of me...gotta admit, I can see why I'd go for a hot piece of ass like you. You've got nicer legs and a much better figure than your late sister, to say nothing about being a lot less flat-chested."

Nabiki frowned and seemed ready to lash out at the man when Freya said calmly, "Actually, letting you go isn't the only way of making sure you don't cause any more troubles."

"Huh?" Ranma looked crossly at the Goddess, "What are you talking a-URK!" he staggered forward, staring down at his chest in disbelief as a glowing crimson energy blade projected from his chest by around a half a meter.

"Let that be a lesson to you, Sugar," Freya smiled without humor, "Never second guess a Valkyrie when Death is on the line."

"Saotome," a voice hissed into the ear of the dying Ranma, "I always said that I would one day be the death of thee...and now at last I can fulfill my proclamation."

"DAD!" Lyn Reikou cried as she saw the face of Darth Kuno looming up from behind the falling body of the slain martial artist.

"Not quite, Hon," Freya cautioned, "He's more like the evil version of your father...a Sexy-evil version to be sure..."

"Do it on your own time, okay?" Nabiki said, "What do you want, Kuno?"

The tall man in dark robes removed the blade from the back of the man laying at his feet then stepped out from the concealment of the shadows, and everyone could see that he was favoring his left hand while his right remained in concealment, "That should be obvious to everyone concerned, Tendo Nabiki. I am here to prevent you from further interference in Lord Karadon's plans. The time draws near when the destruction of this world and all who are upon it is at hand..."

"But wait a minute," Hiroshi said, "You know about the bomb...and you still intend to fight?"

"Isn't that suicidal?" Adam asked, "You could die with the rest of us..."

"Death is nothing to a Samurai," Kuno replied, "And a Sith Lord fears it not. Besides...when my master remakes the world and reshapes the history of all who live upon it, he has promised to resurrect me and my colleagues, and in the new order we will rule supreme as Demi-Gods over an idyll society of perfect order."

"You intend to die and be reborn again?" Moira asked.

"I intend to live in a world that lacks the flaws and imperfections of this one," Kuno replied, "A world without such irritations as yourselves and Ranma is worth paying any price, however drastic. When time itself is remade in the image that Karadon seeks, then there will be nothing beyond the scope of our dreams...we will be able to do anything we desire...anything will be within our grasp..."

"Anything?" Nabiki repeated with a sardonic expression, "Try clapping."

Kuno frowned and was about to say something when a voice rang out with force and conviction, "LION'S ASCENDING ROAR SPECIAL ATTACK-HURRICANE PUNCH!"

A highly concentrated spiral wave of hot and cold Chi shot past the party like a cannon shot and struck hard against Darth Kuno's mental shielding, punching through and knocking the man hard against the fall wall with bone-grinding impact.

Mace stood with hands cupped, breathing in deeply as he glared at the fallen Sith Lord then growled, "I don't care if he wasn't really my Dad...nobody does that to a Saotome and gets away with it...nobody!"

Nabiki arched an eyebrow then said, "How is Kinko doing...Son?"

The boy lost his animalistic fury and stared in concern at the winged girl, but Kinko was groaning and feeling her head at that moment, so she was able to speak for herself, "Only hurts when I laugh, Auntie..."

"Pretty bad," Mace finally answered, "A little harder and her skull would have been split open. Good thing Tomboys have hard heads..."

"I heard that," Kinko growled ominously.

"Gany-chan...speak to me...are you hurt?" Shanma was almost pleading as she had the stunned hermaphrodite stretched out across her lap, "I didn't mean to do that! Honestly, I didn't..."

"Gany-chan?" Mace arched two furry eyebrows.

"Gah..." Ganymede managed to gasp at last, "You kick...pretty hard...Beauti...ful..."

"Don't try to talk," Nabiki urged, "You may have a concussion, Son, and I won't have you making any girl a widow before she's had a chance to claim you."

"Widow?" Shanma asked anxiously before she had time to think about the implications of that statement...and then promptly colored.

"Well...what now?" Hiroshi asked, just before he heard a tremendously loud explosion rock the chamber and threaten to collapse it.

"What the heck was that?" Mace exclaimed as he fought for balance.

"An explosion, Magnitude four-point one on the Richter scale," Adam promptly.

"But this satellite isn't big enough to have earthquakes!" Lyn Reikou protested.

"Maybe not," Freya mused as she reached down and picked up the fallen Darth Kuno, slinging the dark robed man over her shoulder, "But something caused that big blast, and off-hand I'd say somebody took the side off of a mountain. To my way of thinking that means it's a good time to take a powder..."

"MOM!" Lyn Reikou protested, "What are you doing?"

"Now hush, Hon," Freya smirked, "I see great potential in this fellow, so don't give me no lip about it. After all, you don't hear me complaining about any of your boy-toys or girlfriends..."

"I'm game to leave," Nabiki said, "Regardless of conditions, but how exactly are we going to...Oh my!"

"Eh?" Hiroshi asked when he sensed something happening right beside him, and to his dismay he saw Sayo glowing brightly, as were both cyborg siblings and a most astonished Shanma.

"Eh?" Ganymede responded upon finding his purple-haired cat-angel melting out from underneath him, and then he felt the impact of the floor against his back went "OOF!"

"Sis?" Mace looked down at where his sister had been, "What the hell...?"

No sooner were the words past his lips when the rest of the party began to fade out of view, the chamber becoming as intangible as mist, then a new landscape formed around them, that of a breathtakingly beautiful garden that stretched out to all sides beneath a canopied dome filled with stars and an impossibly large moonscape.

"You?" Nabiki asked as she turned to see a familiar towering figure.

"Well now," Derek mused, "That's another group successfully retrieved. Shall we tune in now on the next group? I think this next scene will amuse you..."

Roll Call:

Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Inaho and Mosquiton the Vampire, 1/8th Vampyr Tachi Kuno -Son of Nabiki and Tatewaki, Nampo Kendo Ryu Efreet Mizuhara -Adopted daughter of Ifurita and Makoto, Demon-Goddess Ryeka Masaki -Daughter of Ayeka and Ryoko, Princess of the Jurai Ayane Tofu -Daughter of Kasumi and Korato, a Saiyajin Warrior Muku Dori Senzenen -Daughter of Akane and Mikado, Iczellion Warrior, partner to Rhea Rhea Kano -Iczer Four, daughter of Nagisa and Iczer-One

It had taken Muku and Rhea only a few moments to reorient themselves when they discovered the group ganging up on a long character, and after observing for another moment they determined which party was the one with which to side. Throwing in with the party attacking the man named Karadon had been as much an instinctual thing as a calculated guess, but the Iczer and Iczellion warrior were both seasoned veterans used to depending on their battle-honed instincts to guide them.

Besides, there was something about the man whom they attacked that all but screamed the words, "BAD GUY!"

Karadon, for his part, was more annoyed than seriously concerned at having so many powerful female assailants...indeed, their sex meant very little to him, they were just irritants made flesh who needed to be taught a statutory lesson. The Vampyr was so far the greatest of these annoyances, having drawn first blood and become enriched with a tiny portion of his essence, only slightly less irritating were the Saiyajin and the Juraian princess, with the Android Demon-  
Goddess following behind by a fair measure. Individually they were nothing compared to his power, even combined they could not match the full measure of what he was and what resources were at his disposal. He endured the humiliation of their pounding and abuse because they were little more than fleas flicking at his hide and just as easily dismissed.

What was not so easily cast aside was the disturbing sensation that there was something of greater significance at stake here, that these fools were somehow meant to bring him down...HIM! A Guardian laid low by the denizens of this limited dimension. Such a thing was impossible, utterly absurd, and yet somehow Derek believe that these short-lived little pests could somehow bring him to ruin. This thought ate away at his confidence and made him wonder what it was that he was missing.

Quite obviously he was being misdirected in some way, or else the truth was too obvious, so subtle and manifestly evident that to miss such a detail would imply that one was not looking very closely. It meant that he needed to set aside a portion of his consciousness in order to solve the mystery, to take a step back from the fight and observe what it was that he could not see from a closer perspective.

As he thought this, however, another explosion ripped through the chamber and an entire section of rock was blown away. From the space that had been created in the chamber wall a pair of forms came surging through, twin power signatures of considerable magnitude, one belonging to Ryo Muhoshin, the other...a white hair Titaness who was fighting with all the skill, fury and tenacity of a Saotome!

"MUHOSHIN!" Karadon called out, intensifying his own battle aura so as to shrug off his assailants so that he could turn his attention towards these new combatants, "What in the name of Sanity are you doing?"

His minion did not reply, of course, until he and the white hair giantess broke off their attacks to stand back and take renewed stock of one another...and after the passage of a few tense seconds, Muhoshin fell to his knees and gasped, "You can't breathe in these clenches! No air! I'm suffocating!"

"You can't suffocate, you idiot!" Karadon reprimanded, "You're already dead! You don't even need to breathe except from habit!"

"Oh yeah," the Revenant replied, recovering his bearings, "I almost forgot that..."

Karadon debated the wisdom of performing a legendary "facefault," but instead he turned blazing eyes at the white haired girl and said, "You waste all this time dealing with a Saotome? FOOL!"

He extended his arm as his eyes started blazing, summoning the force that he would need to exterminate even someone of Muhoshin's power level, but before he could converge these forces to destroy Wanda, a rainbow-haired blur shot forth from the nearest wall and slashed his arms and face like a hissing wildcat, once again disrupting his concentration.

"Boss?" Muhoshin turned a dismayed look at the living buzz saw that was attempting to savage the Guardian with fingers that were closer in nature to raking talons.

Wanda blinked, unable to comprehend at first that she had been spared a devastating attack by the annoying sprite-like Ninja.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Karadon snarled as he threw off the swift Minx, hurling her towards a wall with force enough to break a man to pieces. To the astonishment of all who were witness the tiny girl performed an impossibly acrobatic tumble and got her legs braced in time to catch her weight as she hit the wall and rebounded. Minx landed in a crouch, hissing fiercely, only to turn her attention away from the enemy Guardian in favor of the large ball that dominated the chamber.

"Oooohhh!" she suddenly cried in delight, "Shiny!"

"Eh?" Karadon himself was surprised by this change of demeanor, but before he could begin to make sense of the annoying creature he found himself under attack once again as Ryeka and Ayane renewed their assault, while Efreet fell back and found herself standing next to a somewhat bewildered looking Tachi.

Up to this point the young Kuno had been unable to take part in the affair, having stood back to watch his android girlfriend go into action against a foe who quite clearly sought to ignore her. Now that she was near enough to him for normal conversation, he moved away from the wall and asked, "Are you feeling all right?"

"Oh sure," Efreet replied, "But I'm running out of energy. I need another wind-  
up, and there's no time for you to charge me."

"I'd be happy to help out in any way that I could, but...well...you know," he shrugged.

"Don't worry," Efreet half-smiled, "I'm just glad to have you here to cheer me on. This guy's tough...and I don't think you could take him...unless..."

"Unless?" Tachi asked.

"Tell me again," Efreet said as she turned her attention towards him, "How you do that charge-the-wood up with Chi thing...you know...that Nappo."

"That's Nampo," Tachi replied, then held out his bokken and said, "You just concentrate and let your spirit flow through you, and think of the wood as an extension of your own body..." as he spoke a blue glow began to surround the wood, causing it to glow from within like a living sword blade.

"Got it," Efreet held her Keystaff out from her body in the same manner in which he held his bokken, and after a moment it began glowing with a bright blue-green energy field, "No problem."

"That's very good," Tachi blinked, "But how...?"

"I can duplicate any kind of combat system or attack style that I directly observe," Efreet replied, then surged forward crying, "Wish me luck!"

"But-!"

Karadon had just then caught Ryeka and Ayane by their long mop-like hairstyles and promptly smashed their faces together, thereby temporarily rendering them insensate. He was about to turn his attention back to business when he caught sight of a bluish glow and barely turned in time to see the key staff being swung at him like a ball-bat. Though he successfully raised his defenses in time to meet this attack it proved more devastating than he had estimated and actually staggered him backward for several paces.

That was when Carmine appeared once again, moving like a blur to grip him from behind and position him for another bite, and this time Karadon cried out in actual pain as he felt yet more of his vital energy being leached out of his body.

"Boss?" Muhoshin asked with raised eyebrow.

"He seems to be a bit busy at the moment," Wanda mused, "Shall we continue this dance?"

"Heh, if you're in that much of a hurry to die," Muhoshin smiled, then suddenly pointed off to the ceiling, "Hey, what in the world is that?"

"You must be joking," Wanda remarked, "That tactic is older and far more ripe than you are."

All at once a heavy form fell over her, and to Wanda's astonishment a pair of burly arms locked their beefy hands around her body, trapping her arms at her side. A bull-headed figure that was even larger than herself held her in place as Taro bellowed his relative triumph over the now-helpless Fist of the Northstar while Muhoshin only smiled, sensing an easy triumph.

"Sucker!" he sneered as he powered up a force around his umbrella and prepared to stab forward at the space between her generous breasts.

All at once he staggered forward, coughing up black ichor, then stared down at himself in disbelief as a human hand protruded from his chest, clutching a scabby lump of rotten flesh roughly resembling what a human heart might look like if dug out from a corpse several days buried.

"G-uh-what...? N-No way..." the revenant gasped as that hand closed on the lump of flesh and squeezed it into puss-like jello. Muhoshin collapsed to the ground with only a faint whisper, "But...I can't die...not unless...it's by...the hands of...a..."

"You were saying?" asked Hibiki Ryoga as he stared at his gore-stained hand with disgust, right up until a brown haired woman in a trench coat, wearing a floppy hat and scarf handed him a handkerchief with which to clean it. A moment later he held up the locket that had been embedded on Muhoshin's chest and turned it over for critical examination, then after blinking once he said, "Hey...doesn't this belong to Ranko? What was that guy doing with it anyway? That Muhoshin always was a creep, but stealing pendants from kids is kinda low...even for him..."

Wanda sensed that the creature gripping her arms was distracted by the new arrival, and she took the opportunity to break its grip over her with a loud declaration of, "LET GO OF ME!"

Her aura flared to life around her body as she broke loose from the creature then began hitting him with rapid-fire punches, aiming precisely at all of the key energy centers of its body to create a building hydrostatic charge for which even its formidable hulk was ill suited to contain. The creature staggered backward as with a final punch she sealed the creature's fate, then stood back and watched it go through the contortions before finally exploding.

"Ew!" winced the girl named Helexia, "Now that was a bit excessive, don't you think?"

"Indubitably," remarked her father, who was dressed in an even more flamboyant get-up, as he glanced down at the remains of the dying Revenant and said, "Rude chap...bit of a nasty smell there. I take it you and he did not get along, Ryoga my boy?"

"You could say that," Ryoga replied, "Long story...he won't be missed."

"YOU?" Karadon declared as he at last broke free from the grip of the thirsty Vampyr.

"Now what kind of a greeting is that, dare I ask?" the Doctor replied as he turned to regard the renegade Guardian, "What else can I say to it but 'Me?' Now honestly, you ought to be able to come up with something more original than that, Karadon old chap."

"Now see here..." Karadon started to say when yet another explosion rocked the chamber, to which he could only snarl, "WHAT NOW?"

"TADAIMA!" cried Saotome Ranma as he appeared on the back of a huge winged dragon, "I'm home, did you miss me?"

"Saotome," Karadon sniffed, "What else could be so annoying? WAIT!" he declared as he finally took notice of something significant that he had been missing...or rather something that was not there which he would have otherwise expected, "THE MORTALS! WHERE HAVE THEY GOTTEN OFF TO?"

"Now see here," the Doctor remarked, "Don't you know that it's bad form to end a sentence with a preposition?"

"I DON'T CARE!" the renegade Guardian declared as he suddenly rose up and increased in size and mass until he was towering over them all like a figure of wrath of cyclopean proportions.

"Oboy!" Efreet remarked as she started up at the now hulking enemy, "Now that's one trick I can't copy..."

"Yeah, but we can," Muku declared, turning to Rhea with a smile and saying, "Right partner?"

The Iczer grinned and said, "Affirmative-ICZER THETA, COME FORTH!"

The air rippled with electrostatic tension as yet another towering form manifested from a gap in subspace, and out stepped the hulking-yet-feminine form of an armored android standing well over a hundred feet tall, into whose form the pair flowed as though phasing through the organic plating as though dematerializing into the primary and secondary cockpits.

"WHAT MOCKERY IS THIS?" Karadon demanded, "YOU FOOLS THINK TO OPPOSE ME IN THAT PRIMITIVE CONSTRUCT?"

"Well hey," a now-nude Muku smiled from her position in the chest cavity, "You never know if it's worth it until you try your luck, right Rhea-chan?"

"Also affirmative," the Iczer replied, "All systems in the green, preparing for combat...now!"

"Now that's big," Ranma said, "And I mean SERIOUSLY big..."

**HMMM...** mused the Dragon upon which Ranma was riding, **NOW THIS DOES SEEM TO BE OF INTEREST. DO YOU THINK THESE CHILDREN CAN POSE A GREATER THREAT WITH SIZE THAT THEY LACKED IN HUMAN DIMENSIONS?**

"Won't know until it happens," Ranma said, "But at least we've got a dandy ringside view for this brouhaha."

**INDEED,** Herb agreed, **AND THIS DOES PROMISE TO A RATHER CLASSIC TEST IF SIZE DOES INDEED MATTER.**

"WHAT TREACHERY IS THIS?" Karadon turned to regard the hovering form of the dragon, "DON'T TELL ME THAT THE TWO OF YOU HAVE FORMED AN ALIANCE?"

"Call it a truce for mutual benefit," Ranma said, "Plus the joy of seeing your snotty butt get kicked."

**I BEG TO DIFFER WITH MY COLLEAGUE IN ONE REGARD, GUARDIAN,** the dragon retorted, **THE ONLY TREACHERY IS YOURS, FOR I WAS NEVER YOUR ALLY TO BEGIN WITH!**

"Ranma?" Ryoga shielded his eyes to stare up at the tiny figure on the back of the huge winged reptile.

"Ranma?" Wanda turned to stare in astonishment at the same figure, barely recognizing a face that she had only seen in dimly remembered dreams and visions, "Saotome Ranma?"

"Indeed," the Doctor remarked, "And no other quite like him."

"But...that would mean that he is..." Wanda began to say when another sight caught her eyes, that of the tiny, fleet form of Minx scaling the walls of the chamber like a human gecko, "What is she up to?"

"Oh my," Helexia shielded her eyes from the glare of the two contending giants, "It seems that she is seeking altitude for a...Father, you don't suppose that she is about to jump, do you?"

"Jump?" Wanda reacted, "But..."

To her astonishment and dismay, the rainbow haired Ninja girl leaped away from the wall and began plunging through space...directly at the "shiny metal ball" that had attracted her interest.

"She jumped all right," Efreet said faintly.

"But...does she have enough momentum to reach it?" Tachi asked.

"Oh sure," Efreet said, "But at the rate of freefall, she's going to hit it pretty hard..." A hissing sound drew her attention and Efreet said, "Uh oh..."

"Uh oh?" Tachi repeated, turning his head to see Carmine crouching with eyes that literally were bleeding with blood, a feral snarl on her lips as she regarded them with a distinctly hungry expression, which prompted him to say once again, "Uh oh..."

"Oh...did somebody get the number of that spaceship?" Ryeka groaned.

"No fooling," Ayane grumbled as she rubbed her own sore noggin, "You've got a pretty hard head, you know that?"

"Look who's talking-HEY!" Ryeka started as she saw the glowing red eyes of the Vampyr, "What's with her?"

"Ah..." Efreet said faintly, "I think Carmine-chan's gone a little over the deep end guys...help?"

"It's all that supercharged blood in her system," Tachi said, "It must have overwhelmed her!"

"No kidding," Ayane got to her feet then started as she caught sight of the giant Karadon facing off with the Iczer, "Hooboy! I'm seriously starting to miss Berka...!"

To Wanda's relief and complete astonishment she saw Minx land near the top of the floating Eye without apparent injury. The rainbow-haired Ninja girl skitted along the side until her clawed hands and feet found a purchase, and then she all but flowed through the metal itself, vanishing into the Eye as though diving through water.

"YOU ARE FOOLS IF YOU THINK TO DEFEAT ME!" Karadon sneered as he began to glow with incredible power.

"We will see about that," Rhea responded as the Iczer began powering up for their looming confrontation.

"Hey," Ryeka suddenly looked around and asked, "What happened to the other guys who were with you people?"

"Good question," Tachi replied, "But if I know Ryoma, he's probably busy causing mischief-oh my!"

"Oh my what?" Efreet asked, not taking her eyes off the blood-maddened Carmine.

"Don't you feel it?" Ayane asked as she glanced down at herself, "We're fading!"

"What is happening this time?" Wanda asked as she glanced down at her own translucent hands, and then suddenly her mind expanded as other thoughts and memories flowed through her and she hesitantly asked, "Brothers...Sisters...?"

And then all faded from the room, save only for Karadon and the giant Iczer Robo...

Ryoma Saotome -Son of Ukyo and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Shampoo and Konatsu, Mage/Wicca in training Minos Tarot -Son of Kasumi and Pantsaru, Shotokan Ryu Onnama Saotome -Daughter of Tatewaki and Ranma, Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Touga Kuno -Son of Ranma and Tatewaki, Daimyo, Kendo Master Ryonosuke Senzenen -Son of (?) and Mikado Senzenen, Family Retainer Xandar Kurunei -Son of Kaori and Sasuke, House Ninja Yoriko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and (?), House Ninja

"Such an interesting confection you are brewing up here, Brother," Touga remarked, "What was it you called this grey substance again?"

"Plastic explosives, Bro," Ryoma explained, "It's a home-made recipe I learned from my Mom. You take simple ingredients and you lace it around on stuff you want to blow up and it does the trick like magic."

"Just keep whipping it up, Ryo," Minos said as he and the others continued to lace it about the corridors of the high-tech machinery all around them, "We're gonna need a lot of it to make a sizeable dent in this gizmo."

"I'll keep it up as long as Tarot-chan keeps supplying me with the materials I need," Ryoma replied as he worked furiously on his portable home grill and mixing bowl, blending in the ingredients that he rapidly baked into the right sort of consistency that he was after, "After all, it's a pretty simple complex, given the big bang it makes when you light it."

"I do not normally consider myself a supply chain manager," Tarot mused as she wove her hands in the air and conjured up the raw materials that Ryoma needed, almost managing to supply it as fast as the chef could use the stuff up, "But given the nature of the circumstances...I suppose that this is an acceptable use of my talents..."

"My lord!" Ryonosuke reported as he appeared from one of the walkways that laced the massive internal machinery of the device that they were inside of, "We have finished with this sector and will begin to plant these explosives in the next corner. We are making good progress and should have the entire monstrosity ready to blow upon your command."

"Excellent," Touga replied, passing along the new bricks that he had just shaped from the raw putty that Ryoma was supplying, "The only problem that I foresee will be in creating a fuse that can be used to set things off in a proper sequence."

"Yeah, well...one thing at a time, Prince," Ryoma replied, "It takes a different kind of process to create a fuse, but the good thing is we only need one of them since the first explosive will set off a chain reaction that should blow this whole ball into some pretty fancy confetti."

"But why do we need so much of it?" Minos asked.

"Because," Tarot said patiently, "Unlike like in a movie, where absolutely EVERYTHING is explosive, mechanical devices must be made to go boom. In most cases they are rather designed NOT to go BOOM, unless they are the product of shoddy and inferior manufacture."

"Somehow that Karadon guy doesn't strike me as the type to mess up like that," Ryoma mused softly, "That's why we have to make sure we do the job right the first time..."

"Because, undoubtedly," Touga remarked, "We are unlikely to have a second opportunity come our way."

"All right," Minos snorted, "So it was a dumb question..."

"There are no stupid questions, my dear Minos," Tarot smiled, "Only stupid people who fail to ask them."

"YO!" a cheerful voice remarked, causing all heads to turn up in surprise as they found Minx hanging upside down and smiling in a particularly mischievous manner, "Hey, Boss-man, what you doing?"

"Minx?" Touga lifted an eyebrow, "When did you get here?"

"Just now," Minx replied, "Lotsa neat stuff, you wanna gonna make it go boom-  
bang?"

"That is the basic intention, yes," Touga nodded.

"Don haveta," Minx smiled, "Minx have fun, make Big shiny ball go bye-bye."

"Bye-bye?" Ryonosuke blinked his eyes, "Ah...exactly how do you mean that?"

"Minx make Big Ball make big noise," the rainbow-haired moppet replied, "It going on like big bright shiny sky-stuff, lots of flash-bang, make nice sparklies..."

"Sparklies," Touga repeated, then his eyebrows went wide, "Do you mean...like a fireworks display such as we use at carnivals and the like?"

"Uh-huh!" Minx nodded her head up and down like a grinning possum.

"Oh no," Ryonosuke said faintly.

"YORIKO!" Touga called out, "XANDER! GET DOWN HERE AT ONCE!"

"My lord?" came the distant reply of a pair of surprised sounding Ninja.

"WE HAVE TO EVACUATE FROM HERE AT-" Touga blinked his eyes and said, "Oh my..."

"Oh my?" Minos repeated.

"Oh my is right!" Ryoma glanced down at himself, "We're fading again!"

"Eh?" Tarot ceased making hand motion, "No...YOU are fading...both of you!"

"Then why are we unaffected this time?" Ryonosuke asked, "I feel perfectly...no wait! We are fading out too, lady Tarot!"

"Somehow I don't think we're going to the same place this time!" Ryoma said in mild panic, "I-hey wait! I can see them! I can see the others!"

"I can too!" Touga agreed, "They are waiting for us! We-"

"Boss man?" Minx blinked her eyes, and then she, too, began to fade, as did everyone else within the miniature Eye of God, leaving only the remaining plastic explosives and unblended mixtures in their passage...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Coming Attractions: shadowmane

Yes, there really is a conclusion brewing for this mega-epic, and the next chapter will bring things to a nail-biting photo-finish in, "Race for Tomorrow," or "History Ain't like it used to be, Huh Doc?" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works.  



	29. Chapter 29

RanCubed28

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and Others,  
including my fellow fanfic writers, Nicole Manders, Trella,  
Gregg Sharp and DB Sommers, who provided some of the characters and concepts that have appeared in this series, and to TH Tiger for his generous support and advice in the writing of this and many other projects)

Chapter Twenty-Eight.

Endgame

Continuity # 87219654

Roll Call:

Sasami Jurai -Alter Ego of Tsunami, Mightiest ship of the Jurai Navy Nabiki Saotome -Time Agent and Lore Master Ranma Saotome -Time Agent and Nabiki's Husband Ryoga Hibiki -Time Agent and Ranma's Partner Freya Kuno -Goddess of Love and Battles Tatewaki Kuno -A Sith Lord (Darth Kuno)  
Prince Herb -Draconic Lord of the Musk The Doctor -Time Lord from Galifrey Derek Loffin -Guardian of the Multiversal Timelines

Tenko Masaki -Daughter of Ryoko and Tenchi Veil Morisato -Daughter of Belldandy and Keiichi Ekko Daitokuji -Daughter of Aiko and Beiko Ryeka Masaki -Daughter of Ayeka and Ryoko Teneka Masaki -Son of Ayeka and Tenchi Kihoshi Kuramitsu -Daughter of Mihoshi and Kiyone Ryo-Uki Masaki -Daughter of Ryo-Oki and Ken-Oki Ryu-Aki Masaki -Daughter of Ryo-Oki and Ken-Oki Tachi Kuno -Son of Nabiki and Tatewaki Tachi Kuno -Daughter of Nabiki and Tatewaki Yuan-Yen Tendo -Daughter of Nabiki and Mousse Ganymede Kuonji -Son of Makoto and Ukyo Kinko Kuonji -Daughter of Akane and Ukyo Mace Saotome -Son of Shampoo and Ranma Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Shampoo and Konatsu Efreet Mizuhara -Adopted Daughter of Ifurita and Makoto Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Inaho and Mosquiton Minos Taro -Son of Kasumi and Tarot Ryonosuke Senzenen -Son of (?) and Mikado Xandar Kurenai -Son of Sasuke and Kaori Yoriko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Ranma Minx Tendo -Daughter of Akane and a Gremlin Hiroshi Honsamu -Son of Takai and Maki Lyn Reikou Kuno -Daughter of Freya and Tatewaki Bonbon Tofu -Daughter of Shampoo and Tofu Nutmeg Saotome -Daughter of Shampoo and Ranma Helexia -Daughter of the Doctor and Leela, Apprenticed Time Lord

"Well, is that it?" Derek mused, "Did I get everyone? No stragglers behind, I trust, other than the ones who are presently engaged in performing a public service?"

Nabiki stared at the bewildering variety of faces that greeted her on the bridge of the Tsunami, which was feeling a bit cramped all of a sudden with the advent of close to thirty youthful faces, all casting about the place with varying degrees of astonishment and dismay in their expressions. She paid a quick glance at an equally bewildered blue-haired Juraian Princess (whom she recognized from the records as Sasami, the alter-ego for the Galaxy-spanning living ship known as Tsunami) then turned a questioning look of her own towards Derek and said, "You've brought all these people together for a reason?"

"Of course not," Derek said dismissively, "I did it for my own personal amusement. What did you think, Tendo-ah, excuse me...Saotome? I needed agents to serve the cause and these were some of the best that I could manage to scrounge up on short notice."

"You mean you're the one who's been yanking our chain all this while?" Freya narrowed her icy blue eyes, "Sugar...that ain't exactly kosher, and it ain't too smart to rile up a Goddess by messing around with her family and loved ones."

"Please do not take this the wrong way, lovely Freya," Derek smiled, "But kiss my ass...pretty please. I do as I will and I need answer to no man nor Goddess for my conduct."

"Is that a fact?" Freya rumbled dangerously, her expression threatening mischief for this bold act of hubris.

"Freya-san," Nabiki warned cautiously, "Better drop it now. Please. You don't want to tangle with a Guardian over a turf-fight, believe me."

"Ah...by the way," Ryoga indicated the unconscious man still slumped over Freya's shoulder, "Isn't that...?"

"None other, Sugar," Freya smirked as she slung the bulky form of (Darth) Kuno Tatewaki and laid him down on the command deck of the Tsunami, "I got plans for this one...he's gonna take a little ride with me up to Valhalla where we'll run a little conduct review and see how he stacks up on the Karmic scale. If he's in any way redeemable, then we're gonna have a little fun, just him and me together..."

"MOM!" a voice plaintively cried from the midst of the bewildering teenagers.

"One side, out of my way, coming through," said a leather-clad Saotome Ranma as he made his way to join the others, "There you are...where the heck did you guys get off to? And Nabiki-MMMMPPHHH?"

"Whoooo!" Freya exclaimed as her eyes widened by a fraction, "Go Tendo!"

This latter part was delivered on her part due to the sudden presence of a pair of amorous lips cutting off the rest of Ranma's statement. The grim Time Agent flailed briefly before putting his arms around his surprisingly affectionate wife, and only after they parted lips a moment later did he come up for air and gasp, "Whoah! What the heck was that for?"

"Oh, nothing," Nabiki smiled with that sly "I know something you don't" expression that he had come to find so endearing, "Just glad to see you, that's all. Have you been having fun without me?"

"Never," he confidently reassured her, "Herb and me were just having a little talk...you remember Herb, don't you?"

"Large fellow," Nabiki replied, "A bit overly scaly."

"That's the one," Ranma hooked a thumb over his shoulder as the head of a large dragon appeared looming over the other adults, and causing some teenagers to go into a panic, "We called a little truce to help sort things out. He ain't really such a bad sort when you overlook the fact that he considers unmarried girls to be a Chinese delicacy."

"In that case, I'm lucky to be happily married," Nabiki paused to give him a winsome smile before adding, "So far."

"Whatdya mean, 'So far?'" Ranma asked archly.

**MADAM,** telepathed the looming dragon, **FAR BE IT FROM ME TO MAKE COMMENT ON ONES PERSONAL HABITS, BUT I BEG TO DIFFER WITH SAOTOME. I NEVER EAT THEM WHILE THEY ARE JUST VIRGINS.**

"Oh?" Freya asked with just a tiny hint of nervousness in her expression.

"Excuse me," the Doctor spoke up, "But you wouldn't happen to have seen my TARDIS anywhere abouts, have you? I left it parked in a cavern that appeared to be slated for demolitions and..."

"Over there," Derek pointed to a corner, "I would have thought it rude to leave you without your ride...consider it professional courtesy from one Meddler in Time to another."

"Ah, quite so," the Doctor nodded, "I must say, you are a splendid chap when compared to that lout you call a brother. He certainly has proved to be quite a handful for us both in the past."

"Well, that should change in a few more seconds," Derek smiled, making a point of glancing towards one of the overhead screens.

"What do you mean, Sir?" Ryoga asked.

"I mean that Karadon is about to get his head handed to him on a platter," Derek replied matter-of-factly, "The final pieces of jigsaw puzzle should be coming together in a few more moments."

"Really?" Ranma said, "I'd sure love to see that!"

"Your wish is a request that I shall honor," Derek replied, "With your permission, fair Princess?"

Sasami had thought herself beyond surprised as she waved a hand indicating her consent, and then the image filled of five sleek-looking aircraft diving into a deep pit and vanishing down the corridors they found there as if racing down the throat of a great beast, weapons blazing a trail as they encountered the first pockets of resistance...

Roll Call:

Team Alpha-Zero,  
Wing Gundam Training Unit

Akira Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Yuki (17) Pilot: Firebird Urika Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Konatsu (17) Pilot: Iron Chef Saber Kuno -Daughter of Shampoo and Kodachi (16) Pilot: Steel Serpent Trolla Galt -Zentraedi Clone-sister to Mireya (15) Pilot: Steelshark Dana Stirling -Daughter of Max and Mireya (10) Pilot: Sunstone

Akira could not help feeling a close analogy to a certain movie that she had watched when just a kid, one that involved a group of valiant rebel pilots flying down a trench seeking to hit an access vent shaft with their lasers, though in that version of things there had not been any black winged creatures appearing on all sides in an attempt to dissuade her.

"Don't look now, Chief," Urika called out, "But those Energy-draining things are back for more!"

"Hardly surprising," Trolla replied, "This pit must open up to their breeding place. We're probably bracing their lair even as we speak."

"We can't let them get to us," Saber reported, "Not now when it could cause another malfunction, like the one that grounded you, LT."

"Yes," Dana concurred, "And at this point a power-outage could prove fatally disastrous."

"Everyone on their guard," Akira said, "Weapons on full, thrusters ahead, use primary sensors to chart the way ahead and don't worry about any stealth requirements...they already know we're coming!"

The five war-birds began spewing out lethal fire and ordinance that began claiming the black-winged creatures in droves, even more devastating than before the goddess, Veil, had recharged them as flashes of light resulted from the impact of the mini-rockets, which in turn claimed collateral damage on any of the other creatures that happened to be flying near to these explosions. Within seconds they cleared a path through the black mass and were through, sinking deeper into the pit with only a black, eerie un-light highlighting the walls all around them.

"We're beyond the enemy wave," Dana reported, "We're outpacing them, they can't seem to catch up with our throttles."

"Heh!" Trolla crowed, "Eat space-dust, you soulless monsters!"

"Cut the chatter," Akira said briskly, "What is our current mission status?"

"Those Tactical instructions that got downloaded to us mark the way clear to the interior shell of this planetoid, Chief," Urika called out, "But once we're clear into that space we're gonna have a real problem with the G-Forces. The core's actually two halves, one Positive and the other Negatively charged ionically, like the poles on a magnet. It's White Dwarf matter, but there's something strange about it. I make it at 206 on the Periodic Table..."

"What?" Akira said, "206? Is that even possible?"

"Not only possible, it's unstable!" Urika replied, "Must be some new type of weapons-grade fuel that we never even theorized could exist! But the real danger to us is that this thing is putting out a graviton count that would collapse normal matter like tinfoil! A cup full of this stuff would weigh a hundred metric tons, it's so dense that you couldn't even hope to cut it with a full-charge blaster."

"How are we going to be able to fly near to that thing in order to reach our targets?" Saber asked.

"Indeed," Trolla replied, "The G-force and Inertia cancelers might afford us some limited protection, but if our Gundams fly too close, then we won't be able to escape the pull of its gravity and we'll be crushed like tin cans..."

"With us as the Tomatoes inside those tin cans," Dana finished for her.

"Thank you, I can do without the mental analogy," Akira winced, then considered their options, "Can we crank up our G-Cancelers to max, let our Inertial dampeners handle the strain while we push our Verniers full throttle in order to get to the target zone?"

"It's possible, Sugar," Urika replied, "But I don't know how long we can sustain it. Our reactors might blow under the strain..."

"Screw that," Trolla replied, "I'm with you if that is your plan, Akira-chan. But then again, you already knew that."

"Yeah," Akira said softly, "Sorry to snap at you guys back there. If we're gonna do it, then let's do it. The rest of you guys with me?"

"HAI!" came the solid chorus of cries as they reached the bottom of the pit and found a gaping black hole that opened out into a spacious cavern that loomed within the hollow sphere that was the skull-shaped asteroid, and there-  
according to instrument displays-was the white dwarf core that lay just below them, floating in a hazy void like some enormous whale beyond Herman Melville's worst nightmares.

"So..." Saber murmured softly, almost at the level of a whisper as though fearing to disturb the slumbering giant, "That's the white dwarf star, huh?"

"Guess so," even Trolla seemed awed by the sight of the thing, "Field's so intense it even swallows most of the light inside the chamber...the G-Force count outside our Gundams is incredible, like being subjected to the ocean pressure of the Marianis..."

"Just be glad it's not a fully-blown Black hole," Dana cautioned, "Or we'd never even survive being this close to the thing."

"Keep your focus, people," Akira cautioned, "We've made it this far, let's try and complete our mission."

"Target sighted and locked, Chief," Urika reported, "If we're gonna do it, then we'd better do it fast because my Verniers are overheating."

"Copy that, LT," Saber relayed, "Mine are pushing near the red-zone...I estimate we have about a minute left before we're toast!"

"Well," Trolla said fatalistically, "Do you want to live forever?"

"Well, as a matter of fact..." Dana started to quip.

"Let's do it by the numbers," Akira nodded grimly, "Thrusters full ahead, form on my wing, all weapons primed and ready, we're going for the gold this time, Team!"

As one unit the Gundams surged forward, ignoring energies that tore at the metal hides of their Veritechs as these mobile suits sought to close the gap between themselves and their mutual target. Forces that would have crushed a normal human cause joints and plates to strain, but still the pilots nobly put aside all doubts and fears for their own safety, acting like trained soldiers forming a "V" wing with Akira at its head, their goal slowly coming into range as an inverted "Christmas Tree" pointing a chandelier-like crystal spire straight at the white dwarf with some sort of illumination passing between them both. On sighting this Urika gave a whistle.

"Heck with Star Wars," she said, "This is more like Independence Day..."

"Let's hope the outcome is as good for us," Saber remarked.

"We'll know in another second," Akira said as her target acquisition sensors flashed red, then gold, confirming that she had a mark on the spot that she was after, "All units fire at will! Let's light up this candle, people!"

And with that declaration the five pilots unleashed a full salvo of their remaining armaments, enough firepower to lay waste to a Zentraedi Battle Cruiser, all weapons converging on a point with such precision that it would have done their tutors proud, and moments later a tremendous explosion resulted, filling their instrument panels with the "Snow White" effect of full reality inversion...

Roll Call:

Rhea Kano -Daughter of Nagisa and Iczer One, (Iczer Four)  
Muku Dori Senzenen -Daughter of Akane and Mikado, Iczellion Warrior Iczer Robo Gamma-Theta -Giant hundred-fifty foot tall Mecha, Iczer Four's other self

Iczer Robo Gamma-Theta began pouring out tremendous waves of raw energy as Muku fired herself up to battle intensity while her cooler-headed partner did her best to channel this force into a massive energy wave pattern.

"PATHETIC," sneered the gigantic Karadon, "YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE POWERFUL, BUT YOUR BEST EFFORTS ARE NOTHING TO ME! TO THINK THAT YOUR MOTHER COULD HAVE POSED ANY SORT OF CHALLENGE TO GOLD UNIT IS, QUITE FRANKLY, SOMETHING I YET HAVE DIFFICULTY COMPREHENDING."

Rhea blinked her large elvish eyes and said, "How do you know about the Gold Unit Virus that all but destroyed my people?"

"WHO DO YOU THINK WROTE THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM?" Karadon sneered, "DID YOU SERIOUSLY BELIEVE SOMETHING AS MASTERFUL AND INTRICATELY DETAILED COULD JUST SPONTANEOUSLY CREATE ITSELF? IT WAS MY INTENT TO DESTROY YOUR FEEBLE SOCIETY OF WOMEN...IT'S VERY EXISTENCE IS AN EFFRONT TO MY NATURE! JUST AS I DESTROYED THE PARENT CULTURE THAT SPAWNED IT HALF A MILLION OF YOUR EARTH YEARS IN THE PAST!"

"You destroyed the ancestors of the C'thuwulf?" Rhea sounded appalled, "Are you...then the one whom my ancestors called the Great Enemy? The one who began our war against the Paranoids and turned our own leaders to the course of Genocide?"

"I GET AROUND," Karadon sneered, "AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT, HALF-  
BREED?"

"You brought an end to a culture that had lasted almost a million years..." Rhea said slowly, the energy levels building up around the Iczer, "...All because we did not meet with your approval..."

"Uh...honey?" Muku asked, feeling an unexpected tide of emotion rising up from within her partner, "Are you gonna be...?"

"DIIIEEE!" Rhea cried as she launched the Iczer Robo at the renegade Guardian, clasping hands with the man and unleashing the full tide of her future, which rolled like a wave over the landscape, scorching everything in its path in all directions...

Roll Call:  
(The Saotome Legion)

Ranko Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Akane Kachima Tendo -Daughter of Ranma and Nabiki Silver Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo Rinse Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo Watazashi Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Kodachi Tenma Saotome -Son of Ranma and Kasumi Cinnamon Saotome -Son of Ranma and Herb Ryo Saotome -Son of Ranma and Ukyo

Wanda Kenshiro -Daughter of Ranma and Aila Sayo Sanosuke -Daughter of Ranma and Kasumi Shanma Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo Ryoma Saotome -Son of Ranma and Ukyo Onnama Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Ryoga Touga Kuno -Son of Ranma and Tatewaki Adam Saotome -Son of Ranma and Azusa (Real name: Michael)  
Moira Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Azusa Akira Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Yuka

Lylac Tendo -Daughter of Nabiki and Shampoo Ayane Tofu -Daughter of Korato and Kasumi

The Being that formed in the prismatic light of a Multi-Dimensional inversion was not one but rather many aspects of the same flowering principle, like different facets showing on the face of the same perfectly cut diamond, a being that overlapped itself many times over, like the folds of a Samurai blade, forging a greater sharpness for slicing through the conflicting folds of reality itself.

Each facet of the resulting diamond was a different face, a different arrangement in principles born of potential combinations, each a Temporal Nexus representing the worlds and realities that they called their home dimensions. As such this being was not one but many persons sharing the same identity in different aspects, and as one they congealed into an amorphous unitary being that was neither wholly male nor female, a blazing distillation of all the best and worst qualities of its constituent parts, a shining embodiment of all there was and could ever be to the essence of a Temporal Nexus.

This being took stock of itself and its newfound abilities, but then it sensed deficiencies in its makeup and stretched an invisible hand out to take into itself those individuals who had the qualities in which it was currently lacking.

That was why Ganymede found himself suddenly glowing and tingling all over as the tiara-jewel on his forehead began glowing brightly, and before he could gasp, "What...?" he had vanished from the Tsunami, as did Kinko and Mace and several other of the astonished companions looking on in utter amazement.

Hiroshi felt his individuality dissolve as both the Light and Darkness of his soul called out to him to join Sayo in her experience of unity with the other children of Saotome Ranma. Minos, Taro, Ryonosuke, Minx and the two Ninja next followed, as did both aspects calling themselves Kuno Tachi, and Lyn Reiko followed soon after. Bonbon, Nutmeg, Yuan-Yen, Efreet, Carmine, Ryeka and her sister, Tenko, their brother Teneka, Kihoshi and the two Cabbits all in turn joined the resulting mixture, as did Ekko and Veil, joining with their beloveds as they were absorbed into the group being that was the Champion Aspect. Last to vanish from the bridge of the Tsunami was Helexia herself, the young apprenticed Time Lady looking at her hands in surprise before turning a questioning look to the side and saying, "Father...?"

"Helexia?" the Time Lord evidenced real surprise, then turned a look towards Derek and said, "Her too?"

"Yes," Derek replied, "It is necessary, and quite out of my hands at this point. I set things in motion, now they are taking on a life of their own and all we can do is sit back and observe the final End Game as it plays itself out."

"Just what the heck are you trying to do here?" Ranma demanded, "Why are you sending our kids out to fight our battles? It should be me who's going up against you wacko pseudo-brother!"

"Get over yourself, Saotome," Derek sniffed, "The being within you may represent one third of all the known Cosmos in the scope of his purview, but you already know that Guardians transcend petty definitions in the extent and breadth of our domain. You wouldn't be more than a momentary diversion for Karadon...none of these children by themselves or as a group could do more than slow him down or provide a momentary distraction. They can, however, prove a point that I have been attempting to make with Karadon for a very long time...that it never pays to underestimate a mortal."

"You plan on using them to destroy that satellite," Nabiki said, then her eyes grew wide, "And Karadon?"

"How's that again?" Freya asked, "Didn't you just get through saying you guys are supposedly invincible or something?"

"Invincibility is a state of mind more than being," Derek smiled, "Karadon knows that nothing in this world can permanently hurt him, and therefore I intend to use that knowledge against him."

"I'm not sure I follow the logic here," Sasami hesitantly noted.

"I think I do," Ryoga's eyes grew wide, "Ranma...tell me I'm seeing things...or does it look to you like the energy field around that thing is...collapsing?"

"Hey, you're right," Ranma started, "I can feel it imploding inward! Something happened that's causing the energy matrix to break up and invert on itself!"

"You have created a colossal prison to ensnare him," the Doctor said in awe, "Well done, old chap, but...is it really necessary to use the children as bait?"

"Of course," Derek replied, "Live bait is always preferable when it's fresh and well seasoned. Karadon does not even know that he's been lured into an ambush. He mistakes youth and inexperience for vulnerability, and that is a mistake that is about to prove costly."

**I SEE KNOW WHAT YOU ARE PLANNING,** Herb telepathed, **AND EVEN I STAND APPALLED AT THE CALLOUSNESS OF WHAT YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO ACCOMPLISH.**

"Thank you," Derek replied, "I always do my best work when under pressure..."

The being now had the necessary parts to accomplish what it sensed to be its mission, and with this expansion in its awareness and composite nature it stretched out a hand and summoned up its considerable power, extending the reach of its arm as a fiery sword manifested there, fitting comfortably into its hand as it closed his fist and became as one with the blade, an extension of mind and being that far transcended any mortal awareness.

It-or rather HI (for the being was a blending of the Male and the Female, the Yin and the Yang, both HE and HER respectively becoming HIR) stared at the crystalline pillar before it with eyes that saw beyond space and time to its true and ultimate nature, and then Hi gazed at the stone floor of the chamber and studied the invisible patterns that underlay the vast workings of a spell of which the pillar was its center. Stretching out Hes blade the transitory being that was the Nexus touched the pattern with its fiery tip and called it into light, revealing an interwoven tapestry of force-lines and convoluted energy cells that were like the circuitry of a giant computer chip, complete with symbolic patterns and runes that were the equation of the spell that had been cast here by Karadon. Moving swiftly to wave a new pattern in the air that overwrote and re-routed this pattern, Hi made short work of the equations while drafting a new formula, and then the new pattern settled over the old and the force-lines assumed their new contour.

That being done, the being lifted Hir blade and drew it back into a posture of readiness, crouching low like a Samurai about to execute the quick-draw art of the Bathosai Iajitsu. Summoning all of its formidable power it gathered itself for the moment of ultimate destiny, and then with one blindingly swift strike it launched itself at the crystal, time and space being transcended as it literally moved beyond the boundaries of human imagination.

The strike was not only dead-on, it was a blow from the past, present and future combined into one devastating attack, and the crystal was utterly shattered into a trillion shards, exploding to powdery fragments that instantly caught fire and ignited into liquefied energy that flowed into the pattern and brought it to full life in the space of an instant...

And elsewhere at that precise moment, four Gundam pilots unleashed their fiery salvo, even as a giant Iczer Robo was locked in a life-and-death struggle against the towering form of Karadon, who had been so enraged by the stubborn resistance of both pilots and robot that he had failed to take heed of his impending danger. When the explosion came it was a complete surprise that caused the ground beneath their feet to tremble, throwing both Iczer and Guardian to their knees as they broke their uneven grip to take stock of an entirely new situation.

"EH...?"Karadon turned his awareness towards the cause of two massive explosions that had reverberated from within the Citadel and saw at once the destruction that had been wrought there, which prompted him to cry, "NO! THOSE FOOLS! WHAT HAVE THEY DONE?"

"Muku-chan!" Rhea called out, "I'm reading a massive collapse in the overall Subspace field! We have to leave here at once or we will be trapped here forever!"

"I hear you, Lover!" Muku called out, "The heck with this Bozo! Get us the heck out of here now!"

"I am already activating the retrieval process now," Rhea replied as the subspace field opened to reveal the doorway through which the Iczer unit had first emerged.

"YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Karadon declared as-with a mighty wave of his hand-he caused the ground to solidify around the massive feet of the towering Iczer, "I WILL DEAL WITH THIS MYSELF! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED WHEN I AM THIS CLOSE TO ULTIMATE VICTORY!""

So saying Karadon flowed through the ground and into the asteroid, leaving a helpless pair to struggle against the solidifying gel-like energy that was gradually covering them over. In a panic Muku said, "What's the matter? Can't we break loose?"

"I fear not," Rhea replied, "This substance is absorbing the energy that I am attempting to use to free it. I'm afraid we are not going anywhere at the moment, beloved."

"Then we have no choice," Muku said grimly, "We'll have to abandon the Iczer..."

"NO!" Rhea surprised herself with the vehemence of her own statement, "I cannot abandon Gamma-Theta...it is my other self! One half of my whole being..."

"I don't like it either," Muku said, "But the alternative is to get buried here! Besides, that subspace field is collapsing, you said so yourself."

"I know," Rhea said grimly (or as near to that emotion as she was normally capable), "But I fear that running is not an option either. We are sealed into our cabins and I cannot teleport us out from the grip of this substance."

"Then what the heck are we gonna do?" Muku cried out, only to pause as he said, "Hey...do you hear something?"

Rhea blinked, "That sound...it is like sleigh bells from a giant sleigh that is being drawn by huge polar bears...but...that makes no sense at all...does it?"

"Ah, honey," Muku replied, "I don't mean to worry you, but..."

Before she could finish the remark a figure appeared from just over the edge of a nearby hill, a ridiculously large figure in the shape of a man riding on the back of an impossibly huge sleigh drawn by four polar bears the size of a pair of small mountains.

"Huh?" Muku blinked her eyes in disbelief, having come so close to doubting her partner for the first time since their first moment of acquaintance.

"I told you so," Rhea said mildly, having obviously picked up the rebellious thought through their two-way mindlink.

Muku winced and said, "DOH!" to herself before blinking her eyes again and saying, "Hey, wait a minute! Isn't that the same guy we saw earlier at that sporting arena!"

"WHOAH!" urged the hulking, bearded Frost Giant as he pulled up alongside their Iczer, "WELL, HEY THERE, LITTLE LADY! ABOUT TIME I CAUGHT UP WITH YOU! YOU SURE KNOW HOW TO PLAY HARD-TO-GET, BUT OLD THRYM HASN'T LOST HIS EDGE WHEN IT COMES TO TRACKING THEM ACROSS THE NINE WORLDS OF YGGDRASIL!"

"Thrym?" Muku exclaimed as she stared at the impossibly huge figure dressed in icy blue-white armor, blowing smoke between blue lips as though the air of his breath was instantly refrigerated.

"I believe he means Lord Thrym of Niffleheim," Freya automatically responded, "In Norse legends he was the alleged King of the Frost Giants and..."

"NOTHING ALLEGED ABOUT ME, YOUNG LADY," Thrym said as he dismounted the sleigh then unslung a huge axe the size of a small starship, "I'M AS OLD AS THEY COME, OLDER THAN THE MOUNTAINS, AND YOU SURE IMPRESSED THE HELL OUT OF ME WHEN YOU POPPED UP IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR GAME. I'D HAVE COME SOONER, BUT IT WENT INTO OVERTIME, THANKS TO THE RUCKUS YOU CAUSED WITH THE REFEREES. THOSE AESIR SURE KNOW HOW TO PUT UP A FIGHT WHEN IT COMES TO QUIBBLING OVER MINOR TECHNICALITIES, BUT NO ONE BUSTS UP A SIEVE LIKE WE JOTUNS!"

"He came LOOKING for us?" Muku said nervously, "Ah...what do you suppose he's going to do with that ax...?"

In reply the fifty-meter tall giant drew back his ax and prepared to take a colossal swing that would have decimated a field of redwoods. Muku started to cry out with Rhea joining her in a scream as the ax came crashing down like rolling thunder, but it only bit into the amber-like gel that was coating their Iczer, and with a single slice he shattered the substance like yesterday's frosting.

Thrym stood back and admired his handiwork as Rhea recovered from her surprise, then ordered the giant robot take a tentative step forward. To her surprise the Frost Giant offered her a hand and drew them towards his massive sleigh saying, "I DON'T MEAN TO BE THE TYPE TO RAID AND RUN, BUT YOU LOOK LIKE YOU COULD USE A LIFT OUT OF HERE, LITTLE LADY, AND THIS THING'S SHAKING LIKE RAGNAROK AND ROLL! WE'VE GOT A FEW SECONDS BEFORE THE SUBSPACE FIELD COLLAPSES AND WE GET STUCK HERE, SO WHAT DO YOU SAY?"

"Ah...well..." Rhea looked at the hand then mentally asked Muku the same question, to which her partner shrugged and said, "What choice have we got? I say we take the taxi!"

Karadon shrank down to human size in order to find the being who was threatening his plans of Universal order, only to find that composite being standing resolutely within the chamber in the space originally occupied by the crystal pillar, lifting up its fiery soul-sword to touch the ceiling as the spell it had just woven became completely active, sealing the entire room within the folds of a multi-layered dimensional inversion.

"STOOOPPP!" Karadon cried as he lunched for the creature, even as time began to crawl and reverse inward upon itself...

And at that precise moment the digital counters on the Dimensional Cannon piloted by Kiyone finally ran down to zero, and without any further hesitation she pulled the trigger and cried, "FIRE IN THE HOLE! I'M FIRING THE CANNON NOW!""

And with that the nine-second delayed fuse coordinated with the targeting sensor, estimated the precise position of the skull-shaped asteroid and then came to an agreement of exact positioning even as the cannon spat fire and recoiled from a blast that could well have taken out the core of a Galaxy. The beam struck home with flawless accuracy and was annihilated, just instants after the Eye of God became active and started to manifest an incredible dimensional build up of its own, which in turn set off the plastic explosives within its metal interior so that the dimensional energies were released without a focus, and as the cannon beam hit home the resulting implosion ripped a hole in reality that converted the white dwarf star into pure energy that was projected...ELSEWHERE!

Karadon was caught in the backdraft and was sucked into the void, his immense power serving for little as naught as a field of containment trapped him up like the proverbial genie in a bottle. With hardly more than a cry that echoed throughout the stars he was thrust through the hole and projected into an infinite space beyond time and dimension as the very energies that he had intended to use to destroy a cosmos were turned against him. Like that he was gone, dispersed throughout infinity, leaving nothing more than a vast area of nothing in his wake to mark the passage where the satellite had been.

The shockwave was intense, but Tsunami rode it out with the most powerful shields known to any starship in the galaxy cranked to full maximum. Even Kiyone on the surface of the moon felt the wash of intense energies playing out over a vast starfield, yet something protected her from harm, the blue area of the moon being a unique place for lunar tourists.

When at last the sound and fury had subsided the adults standing on the bridge of the Tsunami gazed in silent, horrified amazement and apprehension. There was not even a dust trail to signify where the planetoid had been, even the rift itself had been sealed over without a trace of its passage. In silent wonder, Sasami pronounced the final words with the softly spoken words, "It's gone."

"Yeah," Ranma cleared his throat, realizing that it had felt a little roughened, "Seriously."

**DOES THIS MEAN THAT KARADON IS DEAD?** Herb anxiously wondered.

"Well..." Derek drawled, "I suppose that all depends on your definitions...our kind isn't exactly that easy to kill, but I dare say that, even for one of our kind, what Karadon just experienced isn't all that easy to brush off."

"Too bad for him, then," the Doctor nodded, "But what about the children?"

"Yeah," Nabiki suddenly became aware that she had been gripping Ranma's hand a little too hard and was grateful that he was strong enough to take it, "What about the children?"

"You didn't just sacrifice them so you could trap your brother in that, did you?" Ryoga asked.

"I don't know," Freya frowned, "My senses can't pick anything up, but if my little girl really did bite it, then you and me are gonna have it out, Sugar."

"Oh please," Derek sniffed, "As if I would go to all this trouble and not have an exit plan in mind for my playthings. Observe," he nodded towards the open space in the garden-like bridge of the Tsunami.

A brilliant flash of light filled the area and then resolved into the very solid forms of well over fifty teenaged youths in various styles of dress and sharing only a mutual look of wondering incomprehension among them. Also present were the five Gundams, complete with their pilots who appeared outside their hull with the rest of the young people.

"What..." Shanma gasped.

"...the..." Ryoma followed.

"...Hell?" Rinse concluded for them.

"Not aptly put, but very succinct," Kachima mused as she studied the strangely familiar faces of the people all around them.

"We're back," Touga said in dull wonder.

"Yes," Adam-now Michael again-replied.

"We are," his twin sister concluded for him.

"That was a hell of a ride!" Silver exclaimed.

"No fooling," Ranko stared at the other faces all around them and said, "You guys feel a connection too? It was like...like I found feel you people in my mind, or something..."

"Indeed," Cinnamon agreed, "A most...illuminating experience..."

"I found it rather enlightening myself," Tenma turned and smiled at the woman beside him, "That about sum it up for you, Honey?"

"Oh yes," Bonbon agreed, "An experience of sharing unlike any other...so far."

"That was just absolutely incredible!" Yuan-Yen exclaimed, "It felt like we were a part of everything, like the whole Universe was inside us...or we were the universe...or something like that..."

"Oh yes," Watazashi agreed, "It most certainly was...something."

"Who the hell are all these people?" Saber asked.

"I don't know," Akira replied, "But...they do seem somehow familiar..."

"I don't what to make of that, Sis," Ryeka was saying to Tenko, "One minute we were duking it out with this bad guy, the next thing I know I'm with you and all these other guys in some kind...well...I don't know what to call it. Sure felt like one of Grandma's experiments going haywire..."

"It did at that," Tenko nodded, "But at least we all seem to have come through the experience unscathed, eh Veil-chan?"

"Oh yes," Veil agreed, "No worse for wear and-if anything-even more connected than before."

"Huh?" Rinse turned around at the sound of some very familiar voices, caught sight of Ryeka and went "GAHHH!"

"Huh?" Ryeka turned around, seeing the purple haired girl staring at her with very round eyes, "Something bugging you, lady?"

"Eh?" Rinse backed away a half-a step before she saw the lack of recognition in the other girl's features, "You...uh...don't remember me, huh?"

"'Fraid not," Ryeka replied, "Should I?"

"Er-no-not at all," Rinse said a bit too nervously as she continued to back away, "No reason, just curious, that's all..."

"Friend of yours, Neechan?" Tenko asked.

"Never saw her before in my life," Ryeka shrugged, "Looks a little like Lylac, but that's probably just the hair color. Cute girl, though...which reminds me...Ayane-chan! Over here!"

"Ayane-chan?" Teneka lifted an eyebrow, then raised the other one when he caught sight of the broad-shouldered, black haired girl who looked up at his sister's cheerful hailing.

"Ayane-chan?" Rinse blinked, turning to pay full attention at the tall girl in the ochre colored gi, "And who the heck is that...?"

"Hey," Ranko nudged Rinse from the side, "You really were freaked that she was going to jump all over you, weren't you?"

"Ah...it's not that," Rinse replied, heaving a sigh before she said, "It's just...with all the pressure I've been under lately...well...a couple weeks ago my life was simple, then my folks decide to engage me to a boy I really, really like, which sets off my two girlfriends on my case, and things haven't been exactly normal ever since, know what I mean?"

"I dunno," Silver mused, "Define normal."

"Heh, good point," Ranko sniffed, "But still...you kinda did bring this on yourself by agreeing to get engaged to all your girlfriends. Tachi I can understand...you two get along just great, but that Ryoukio guy...well...excuse me for saying this, but he seems a little slow upstairs, know what I mean?"

"Not having met the guy, no," Silver mused, "But if he's a Hibiki, then I can follow this."

"But you don't understand," Rinse protested, "He's...really nice...and what he lacks in smarts he more than makes up in courage. He's never intentionally hurt anyone, but I just know he'd be good with children..."

"Children?" Ranko arched an eyebrow.

"AH!" Rinse blinked, "Did I say that? Naw! Couldn't have!"

"So you like this guy, even if he is slow and gets lost in a closet," Silver persisted, "So go with the whole package?"

"Well...it's just that...they all have something I like...and I can't really see breaking up with any of them," Rinse got a dreamy expression and said, "When they're not trying to kill each other, Ryeka-my Ryeka-is so thoughtful and caring...and Atari has a really nice sense of humor when she's not being all stuck up and prissy, while Tachi...she's the best! My best friend from childhood, more than just a cousin, she's like my better half, the way she can think her way around anything, and she's got this smile that just tickles me, like she's always two steps ahead of..."

"I feel my ears burning," Tachi remarked, "Should I sneeze just to make it official?"

"T-T-Tachi?" Rinse turned around to find the shorthaired girl standing next to her.

"Hey, Cousin," Tachi gave her that knowing smile, and then she took Rinse into a swoon and planted a kiss on her lips that left the purple haired girl's locks in curls.

"Guess she's happy to see her," Ranko smirked.

"You think?" Silver sniffed, "C'mon, you two...find a hotel room or something...or, better yet...hey Ranko...think they still got room for us over at the Miroku?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Ranko smiled slyly.

"Tachi...what...?" Rinse wondered if it was just the room that was spinning or her head as Tachi righted her up again, only it was a boy who answered her befuddled query.

"Excuse me?" he said, "Were you talking to-me?" he blinked as he made eye contact with the short haired girl beside him, then as one they both said, ""EY, YOU LOOK JUST LIKE ME!""

"Oh wow," said the girl named Efreet, "You never told me you had a twin sister, Tachi-chan."

"Tachi-chan?" the female Tachi quirked an eyebrow.

Tarot was about to offer an amused commentary when she felt someone accidentally bump into her, and when she turned to look she found herself staring at yet another brown-haired girl who strongly resembled Kuno Tachi. The two made eye-  
contact, and after a moment had passed she heard the girl say, "Witch."

"Lore Master," Tarot replied, then both women studiously turned away and proceeded to ignore one another.

"By the way," Shanma said as she spied Kachima, "What the heck have you been up to all this time, Sis?"

"Oh, this and that," Kachima smiled when she took notice of the fact that Ganymede was standing a lot closer to her sister than before, "You two look like you've been busy why I was away."

"Ah..." Shanma colored slightly then leaned closer to her sister, "Actually...I don't know what to think anymore. I mean...I like him, and he's been really nice to me...but still..."

"Having second thoughts?" Kachima smiled, "Why don't you give yourself time to think it over. If it works out, fine, if not...well...at least you can have a few laughs together."

"But...well..." Shanma scuffed a foot on the floor, "I mean...I thought maybe he was treating me like some kind of a prize to be won...but...what is it he really sees in me? Proof of his manhood?"

"Sister," Kachima chided, "You never have seemed to understand what a prize you really are. Anyone with eyes can see your outer beauty, but it takes true perceptions to see the inner you, the beauty that you keep inside of you, a beauty of which I have always been aware."

"You?" Shanma said in surprise, "I thought I was nothing but another Jock to you..."

"You are more than that to me," Kachima winked, and squeezed her sister's hand in a reassuring manner, "I just never saw a reason to give you a more inflated ego."

"Heh...well..." Shanma glanced down at the floor then back again, "What's the deal with you and that redhead? You were giving her quite an ogle when you saw when you saw her Jusenkyo curse."

"I can look if I want," Kachima said with a knowing smirk, "And can I help if she is highly attractive to me in either of her aspects?"

"Yeah, well...keep in mind," Shanma cautioned, "She is practically like another sister."

"So?" Kachima replied, "You think I would find that a deterrent? Let me tell you, Neechan, that if I had a mind to do so, I would screw you in a heartbeat and never feel the slightest regret about it. Think on that the next time you feel like advising me on my sex life."

"...?" was all Shanma could say to that as she stared wide-eyed at her half-  
sister.

"I just wanna say this once for the record," Kinko was saying just then to the purple haired boy beside her, "I still think you're a thoughtless jerk, but...other than that...you are kinda nice."

"That's your idea of a compliment?" Mace replied.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Kinko replied rather tartly, "Or are you gonna make something out of the fact that to you I'm just a Tomboy."

"Hey, I didn't say you weren't a NICE Tomboy," Mace protested, "And...well...you're kinda pretty-who said that?" he suddenly reacted in a panic.

"Huh?" Kinko blinked, "You...really think I'm pretty?"

"Well...yeah..." Mace said with more reluctance, "I mean...you've got those wings and you can fly, and you're pretty smart and...uh...well..."

"They seem to be getting along a lot better," Ganymede observed as Kachima came within earshot.

"Indeed," the Apprenticed Lore Master observed, "The Owl and the Pussycat, but which one is which, I wonder..."

"Can you believe this?" Ryoma asked, "It's like being in a Otaka convention..."

"Yeah," Minos agreed, "A convention devoted to you. This place is full of Saotomes..."

"Quite an experience at that," Touga agreed, "How fares your friend, fair Goddess?"

"I think she'll be all right," Efreet replied, "She's still a little out of it...that guy must've given her a hangover."

"Hangover?" Carmine blinked as Efreet supported her, "What happened? How did we get here...?"

"We do not know, lady," Ryonosuke replied, "Fortunately we do seem to be adapting to that fact rather nicely..."

"Quite an assembly we have here," Nabiki remarked as she scanned both familiar and unfamiliar faces.

"Guess we oughta get acquainted," Ranma shrugged, cupping his hands and saying, "HEY, CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION HERE, EVERYBODY?"

A chorus of "DAD!" "POP!" "FATHER!" and "UNCLE RANMA!" greeted him in response, which gave even the formidable and redoubtable Time Cop a moment of pause as he reflected on that one.

"Sounds like you're real popular with this group," Ryoga remarked.

"Must be something in the diet," the Doctor added with sardonic amusement.

"Let's try this again," Ranma heaved a sigh, "How many here can name me as at least one half of their gene pool...show of hands, please?"

Seventeen faces all exchanged looks with their companions, and then an appropriate number of hands were raised in response to that question.

"One in three," Nabiki estimated, "That's better averages than the last crowd."

"Don't start," Ranma said, "I'm having a hard enough time figuring out where I'm gonna fit this many father's days cards on my mantle."

"Father," one figure stood forth from the crowd, a boy in ornate armor whose black-and-silver hair wove into a warrior's braid much like a certain dragon of his acquaintance, but to Ranma's surprise the question was not directed towards him but rather to said dragon, which was curled back in a corner surveying the gathering with a particularly reptilian expression.

**EH?** Herb turned to regard this boy, **WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, MORTAL?**

"I call you father," the armored boy replied, "Though mortal I may be, your blood flows in my veins and I must call you this because honor demands it. I know that it is you, Father, though you are not the father I know from the world that gave me birth."

**YOU CLAIM TO BE OF MY GET?** the dragon challenged, **PROVE IT!**

"I prove my worth and the right of my birth with this hand!" the boy raised an arm and called forth the Chi that burned within him, "I am Cinnamon of the Musk Dynasty of the Clan of the Dragon! None dare doubt or deny me or I will have an answer of them."

**SPOKEN LIKE A PRINCE OF THE MUSK,** the dragon telepathed, **BUT WHAT WOMAN GAVE YOU BIRTH?**

"Are we now naming ourselves as the sons of our mothers, Father?" Cinnamon smiled, turning a glance Ranma's way, "But of this I will way...the...woman who gave me birth was a person of great honor, nobility and integrity who taught me much of what it means to be a man."

**EH?** Herb blinked his reptilian eyes then exchanged puzzled looks with Ranma, then both looked at the boy and as one chorused the words, "NO WAY!"

"I, too, would wish to address myself to the one named Saotome Ranma," said Touga as he stepped forward, "I am Kuno Touga, lord Daimyo of Nerima Province."

"And your point being?" Ranma asked, and no sooner were the words out of his mouth then he said, "Don't tell me...!"

"HEY!" Akira called out as she and her fellow pilots managed to move forward through the group, "Would somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here? And Pop? It can't be you! You died during the Zentraedi wars...!"

"And you are?" Nabiki asked pointedly.

"Senior Flight Lieutenant Saotome Akira," she replied, "Wing Commander of Team Alpha Zero, Gundam Unit, United Systems Defense Force. Ah...look, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but my group and I got kidnapped from a test range..."

"You're a Pilot?" Ranma asked, "Who was your mother?"

"Huh?" Akira blinked, "Mom? C'mon, Pop...you know who Mom was..."

"Yuki?" Nabiki raised an eyebrow, "Akane's best friend?"

"At least she was a girl," Ranma rolled her eyes, "Thank the Kami for small favors..."

"Um..." Ryoga spoke up, "I don't know how to tell you this, Lieutenant...but my partner...well...he may look like your father, but there is a difference."

"Yeah," Ranma reoriented his eyes on Akira and for a moment stared into his own blue eyes looking back at him, and in them he saw himself once more reflected at a younger age, less worldly and jaded, "For one thing I'm alive...but I'll tell you this, kid...if I was your father, I gotta feeling I'd be mighty proud to see you wearing that uniform." He sniffed and said, "Pop'd roll over in his grave if he ever heard me say that..."

"I don't understand," Akira frowned, "If you're not my father...then who are you?"

"He does look a bit like the pictures of your father that you've shown us, Akira-chan," Trolla remarked, "Maybe a bit older and more well weathered..."

"LT," Dana was studying her side-sensor pad, "This place is incredible...organic technology, and the most sophisticated kind that I've ever seen on record..."

"Nothing else like it," Saber stared at the hull, "This is like one of great-  
great grandmother's stories about a living ship that travels between the stars with a great tree in its center...she called it...Tsunami..."

"Tsunami?" Urika replied, "Why would somebody name their ship after a tidal wave?"

Sasami started to open her mouth, then thought better of it.

"You know," Trolla leaned closer to Akira and smiled, "Now that I think about it, this does seem like a very romantic place to hang out, under the open stars with beautiful night air and so many lovely trees to snuggle under..."

"Plenty of places to find some privacy for some good, old fashioned quality necking you mean," Urika leered as she moved in closer to Akira than was strictly required by regulations.

"Hey!" Saber frowned, "Save it for later...we still haven't finished our little duel, remember?"

"I haven't forgotten," Trolla smiled back, "Any time and place you want to settle this..."

"Hey, your fight was with me, Sugar," Urika growled, "Nobody lays a hand on Akchan without going through me first."

"Ak-chan?" Dana arched an eyebrow.

"Uh...guys?" Akira grit her teeth, "Can't we talk about this later...like...when we're not among strangers?"

Ranma had his mouth open, and so did Nabiki, leaving it to Ryoga to say, "No doubt about it, she's a Saotome..."

"Indeed, I am told we are a colorful lot."

Ranma had the disturbing feeling that there was somebody standing over him, and if he did not turn around to look there was a good chance that the person speaking would go away and not bother him. Needless to say, he looked anyway...and found his eyes going up and up until he stared into the face of a seven foot tall ice-blonde woman.

"And...you are?" he asked with great trepidation.

"Kenshiro Wanda," she replied, "The Fist of the Northstar."

"Right," Ranma looked the girl up and down then said, "I wouldn't mind meeting whoever was your momma..."

"Excuse me?" Nabiki said archly.

"My...mother died when I was very little," Wanda replied, "I am told that your counterpart also perished, but I was raised by my Uncle Kenshiro-WHAT?" she gasped as a lithe form landed on her back and found purchase around her shoulders.

"Big stuff all right, miss Minx?" said a flirtatious elfin figure whose rainbow mop-hair contrasted sharply with Wanda's ivory locks.

"YOU-" Wanda started to react when she caught herself and just sighed, then smiled with more affection, "It is good to see you again as well."

Just then a pair of figures appeared on the bridge, Muku-Dori and Rhea, who paused to take stock of their surroundings then Muku asked, "Did we win? Looks like there are more of us here than when we checked the last time."

"We, young lady, did very well against great odds," the Doctor smiled graciously, "But now that the fun is over, I think we should be getting along, don't you agree, Helexia?"

"One moment, Father," Helexia replied, "I shared...an intimate vision with these people...they are a most...unusual breed. I would not mind sojourning here on another occasion."

"Another one?" Ranko asked as she and her odd entourage made their way towards the center, "Well, sure that might be fun...but I think I could wait a while to catch my breath first."

"Well, young lady," Nabiki turned to regard her and the others, "Remember that you wanted to be a part of this one. Perhaps next time you will wait until you've had a little more training."

"Oh Mom..." Ranko complained, though she did so smiling.

"By the way," Ranma addressed himself to Muku and Rhea, "Didn't you two have a really big robot lying around somewhere?"

"Ah...well..." Muku said with a very disquieted expression.

"Iczer Robo...my other self," Rhea said sheepishly, "Well..."

"Oho?" Derek lifted an eyebrow, "Now this I have to see..."

He waved a hand and caused a square of light to form that was visible to all the others, and there-to their mutual complete astonishment-was a scene on the moon in the blue area of a giant frost-bearded man and the equally giant Iczer Robo in a...position of compromise that caused more than a few eyebrows to rise towards the ceiling.

"Well now," the Doctor remarked, "That's not something you see every day..."

"Indeed," Derek agreed, "Goes to show you that even an Immortal can know surprise. Well, now that everything is winding up rather nicely, I think it's about time to send you people back to where you belong, no worse for the wear, eh?"

"Say what?" Akira asked.

"You can do that?" Saber marveled.

"Of course," Derek replied, "It's as easy for me as the snap of my fingers."

With that he snapped and the five Gundam pilots started to vanish, as did their Gundams.

"Where did they go?" asked Ryoga.

"Back to their original timeline, of course," Nabiki answered.

"Now for the rest of you..." Derek started to say, when Ranko raised a finger.

"Just a minute, guy..." she said, "You called all of us together into some kind of group thingie with me at the center to deal with some kind of crystal at the center of that big bad fortress. Why did it take so many of us, why couldn't you just go in there and smash the thing by yourself?"

"For a variety of reasons," Derek answered, "But the simplest of those is that a direct war between me and my brother would have torn apart the fabric of your reality. I chose to work through you because you are, by nature, heroes who have the instinctive drive to preserve both life and order. You have the right of free will and self-determination, and yet that right is tempered by a destiny inherent in all of you that helps to shape your destiny and guide the choices you might make. Consider this simple analogy to the problem presented by the Pillar of Time...to smash it creates a paradox, and yet there is the possibility that you might fail to destroy it. As in any reality, there is the left and the right path, two possible outcomes, either favorable or unfavorable. Multiply that by all the variable factors and you have an even chance at failing to accomplish your mission, and since failure in this case is literally not an option..."

"I get you," Silver replied, "That bomb-thing was set to go off and destroy all of reality, so if we stopped it in one timeline and it still went off in another..."

"Exactly," Derek nodded, "Sum zero gain, checkmate, and permanent-like. No matter how you stack the odds there is always one possibility that one reality will fail, and in that it would doom all realities and timelines...so the solution to this was simple...

"Attack it on all frames and at multiple timelines to prevent any one approach from failing," Nabiki said, "An all-at-once blitzkrieg, like that misdirection game you used to pretend that these children were merely pawns when, in fact, they were all essential components of your mission."

"Naturally," Derek replied, "If Karadon had known how important they were, then he would have singled them out for himself and thereby decreased the odds that I was stacking against him."

"I thought you were preventing him from doing that," said Ryoma as he came up to join them.

"You did save us that one time," Tarot remarked as she and the others joined him, "That does form something of a tentative commitment."

"Obviously I cannot be everywhere at once," Derek replied, "And he could have gathered more such minions as that warped parody of your father."

"Huh?" Ryoma glanced at Ranma, "What's he talking about, Pop?"

"Er...good question," Ranma turned a questioning look towards Nabiki, "You know anything about that, Nabs?"

"What is it with that nickname?" Nabiki sighed, "Let's just say that I ran into someone you wouldn't much like, and I only did what you would do in the situation."

"Toasted him, huh?" Ranma sniffed, "Sounds like he had it coming."

"Actually, it was Sayo who did the deed," Nabiki nodded to the Samurai as she and Hiroshi approached together, "She was really quite impressive...for a weapons user."

"No fooling?" Ranma smiled at the brown haired girl, who colored slightly and looked shyly back at her father, "Pop and Happosai would never approve, but I think you earned your right to be a Saotome."

"Father," Sayo replied with a modest blush to her cheeks.

"Hold on here," said Ryo as he forced his way up to the central platform of the bridge, "Did you just say a minute ago that you were the one who was behind all this?"

"Ah yes," Derek smiled, "I was about to get to you in turn, Saotome. What say you and I have a little chat about this in private."

With that the Guardian nodded his head and Ryo faded out from view, then the Guardian fixed his knowing smile upon the others.

"And now that we have that established and I have answered all pertinent questions, it is time for you to be off."

"Be off?" Minos said in alarm as he exchanged quick glances with an equally dismayed Wanda.

"Already?" Silver complained.

"Might as well," Rinse sighed, holding Tachi's hand with a last side-glance towards the other Ryeka, "I ducked out on my responsibilities back home, and I've been doing a lot of that lately. I think it's about time I started to take charge of my own affairs, or at least made the effort, if Tachi wouldn't mind continuing to play my conscience."

"You know my answer to that," Tachi smiled, "I'm ready to make a lifelong commitment."

"Will we ever have the chance to meet each other again?" Kachima wondered.

"You tell me," Derek replied, "You are the Lore Master."

And with that he made a gesture, and all across the bridge of the Tsunami the assembled youth found themselves on their way back to their home dimensions...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Follow Up Debates: shadowmane

Is this really the end? Well, don't get your hopes up too soon! There is always an Epilogue to every major saga, and if you have endured this long, I'm sure you'll be wanting to stay tuned to see the follow up where we find out how the heroes return to their normal lives (well, as 'Normal" as things ever get for a Saotome) in, "Crisis Over, Time to get a Drink!" or "Are We Done Yet?" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	30. Chapter 30

RanCubed29

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and Others,  
including my fellow fanfic writers, Nicole Manders, Trella,  
Gregg Sharp and DB Sommers, who provided some of the characters and concepts that have appeared in this series, and to TH Tiger for his generous support and advice in the writing of this and many other projects)

Epilogue.

Quiet Lives of Desperation

Limbo Realm (Space Between Realities).

Ryo Saotome -Son of Ranma and Ukyo, Creator of the Pendant Belldandy Tofu -Daughter of Tofu and Kasumi, Shiatsu Healer

"Oh great," Ryo grunted, "Where am I this time? This is getting real old...I'm so tired of all this nonsense..."

"Hardly surprising that you would be," a feminine voice purred speculatively, "If home is the place that you would seek."

"Eh?" Ryo spun around and caught sight of a lithe form creeping over the uneven terrain and cried, "Who's there? Show yourself! Who are you?"

"Who am I?" the curiously trilling voice replied as a shadowy form slunk closer into view, "'Tis a sigh. To know what I am thou wouldst need to know what God and Man be."

"Talking in riddles, huh?" Ryo fell into a defensive crouch, "That's so original-Not! Just show yourself and...and...nani...?"

The figure stretched lithely and vaulted from the shadows into full view, then stretched out to stand tall, proud and NAKED before his eyes, covered in a light coat of fur and nothing else...fur that was a stunning Purple with electric blue stripes, like a humanoid tiger in the shape of a beautiful woman.

"My name you ask?" this feline girl purred, "What is a name but a mask? It hides identity while pretending to reveal it, and give us labels while truth it doth conceal. If name you need, to give it speed, I do concede that cunning breed that goes by the name of Serendipity...Serendipity Jones, at thy service."

She bowed in the manner of a western gentleman rather than a lady, then straightened up again, her fulsome breasts doing something very interesting in reaction to her movements.

"Uh...what?" Ryo blinked and swallowed, "Oh my..."

"Ah sigh," the long-haired purple pussy grinned in such a way that her long, sharp fangs were revealed, and her whiskers twitched as she sniffed the air, then her long, fluffy tail twitched slightly, "To this I do espy and catch a whiff of perfume that does but loom over thee like a pall. Methinks 'tis love ye wish to share, the love of thy live without cannot bear..."

"Love of my life?" Ryo repeated, "You mean...Belldandy?"

"Ah, lovely name, lovelier vision," the purple-furred cat-woman replied, "You miss her much, her lips to touch, ye would cross field and hillock for the joy to frolic..."

"Do you know how to find her?" Ryo asked, all but jumping at the prospect of finally making his way home after his long and eternal separation.

"Follow your heart for a start," the oddly trilling creature replied, lifted a clawed hand to indicate a sign pole that manifested from seeking no where...a pole sporting a dozen different street names pointing off crazily in all sorts of direction, "All roads lead to the same destination...'tis the nature of all things. String Theory, don't you know? All routes are one, all forces converge at the same point with which they started..."

"BUT HOW DO FIND THE RIGHT ROAD?" Ryo all but shouted in his frustration.

"Dear me, know you not?" the Cat-girl replied, "You must follow the White Rabbit."

"The...what?" Ryo's mind was by now a whirl with confusion trying to make sense of the Lewis Carroll-styled creature.

"There!" the cat-girl touched his nose and all at once Ryo found his mind flooding with images, sights and colors. His senses reeled and his thoughts went blank, but then his perceptions righted again and he found himself standing on the streets of a Tokyo-styled suburb, streets that were all too familiar to him, having grown up around their very likeness.

"Where...am I now...?" Ryo started to say when he heard the soft tread of footsteps on the sidewalk, nearly silent to any other ears but his own, footsteps that caused his pulse to quicken and his nerves to key on edge as he slowly turned around to see the source of this stride that he found so familiar.

It was with only mild surprise that he found his eyes falling upon a familiar purse clutched in a pair of slender hands, a purse that bore the emblem of a white rabbit, an affectation that he had once called a quaintly curious foible on the part of the lady who held it.

Belldandy Tofu walked as one in a dream, the world around her having little sense and meaning. Three months now she had not been like one alive so much as a wandering shadow going through the motions of a life that was now empty of all meaning. Three months since she had smiled and called her love by his name without a trace of bitterness, loss and sorrow...three months in Hell without a word or clue to his whereabouts, or why he had vanished so utterly one day without a trace or an explanation. The police had given up all hope, her parents had tried counseling her on the need to move on with her life, even his parents held little hope of his ever returning to this world, having exhausted all their options in a fruitless attempt to find their missing son, the man who gave her existence meaning.

Only Belldandy had refused to give up all hope, but even for her the strain of a hundred days of uncertainty had caused her nerves to fray and anxiety to torment her soul as a thousand imaginary images of his fate played across her mind, giving her all manner of reason to believe that he would not be returning. The cruelty of separation played on her mind every time she saw a happy smile or a pleasant laugh, or two lovers holding hands or making any display of emotions that contrasted with her misery. The thought that he might have found someone else to care for was but the least of the fears that had filled her heart with dread and longing. Just to know that he was still alive would have made it bearable that he had given his heart to another...only to know that he was well would give her life some meaning. All she did these days was hope, and hope without expectation, having endured every other kind of emotion until only the love remained...the love and the feeling of incompleteness.

But then she found that someone was blocking her way as she sought to return to the clinic that was her home and the dwelling place of her parents. A pair of worn dark blue pants and slippers, dusty with the signs of too much sun and the elements, a pair of callused hands projecting from sleeves that were torn and dirty from far too many desperate battles. She dared not lift her eyes any further, afraid that it was but a vision, a mere dream that she would awake from and discover was nothing more than another phantom conjured up from the shadows of her tortured fancy.

But look up she did...compelled to gaze up into a face as familiar to her as the face of her own mother...a face so handsome and care-worn with emotions that rivaled her own that to gaze upon it was like looking full upon the sun...it blinded her to look upon him, and to meet his eyes was to be pierced through the soul by the missing part of what was essentially her destiny. Belldandy saw the recognition in those eyes that drank in the sight of her like a man starving for too long without food or water.

The first coherent thoughts that were in her mind were-ironically enough-the mirror reflection of his own: [He looks so thin! Hasn't he/she been eating well? Why hasn't anyone done something about his/her clothing?]

"Bell?" she heard him ask, his voice trembling as it he would break at any moment.

"R-Ryo-chan?" she asked hesitantly, wondering how she could even suspect that he was anyone else but her own one-true beloved.

"Kami-sama..." Ryo's hands reached out to her but froze in mid-motion, the act itself seeming to drain all the courage that was within him as though to embrace her would be to hold mist and shadows.

Bell only hesitated for a fraction of an instant before she took those hands into her own and felt her heart beat once again at their reassuring warmth and solidity. He was REAL, she knew that in her soul and with every fiber of her being. He was not a phantom, not a hallucination or the product of her desires or her fevered imagination. He really was standing there before her...Ryo-HER Ryo-chan! He had returned to her at last...!

"Bell-chan," Ryo breathed the word, feeling his hand caress the smoothness of her cheek as he found tears rolling down his cheeks even as he felt her moisture, and to HELL with any claims that real men did not cry. All he cared about was holding her, but then his strength deserted him and he found himself falling to his knees, putting his arms around her waist and sobbing openly as all the time of their separation came crashing down on him...all the hopelessness and despair that had eaten at his soul, welling up within him with all the weight of a hundred days of desperation and confusion.

Belldandy stared at the boy now kneeling at her feet with his arms around her, and something warm and maternal flared up in that desolate gray area that was the silent vigil hope had kept within her soul. All at once the world was a warm and happy place once again with the skies no longer dull and cloudy, the songs of birds replacing the emptiness of the air that was all around her...

The healing had begun, and-standing not too far away-a curious figure smiled in satisfaction, whiskers twitching slightly as she detected a presence that manifested near to her position.

"You have qualms, Lord Guardian of Time?" she asked, her nose twitching slightly.

"You are interfering with my program," Derek replied, "I had intended to return the fool after debriefing him on his...diversion for the past few months."

"What care you for his fate?" Serendipity arched her tones slightly, "You have used him before, and used him quite cruelly."

"That is none of your affair, Shadowcat," Derek replied, "You know that the boy has a destiny, his fate sealed by the act of crafting that pendant."

"Destiny, what is that to me?" Serendipity turned a sly look towards the Guardian, "I exist beyond time, much as yourself, and time to me is but a string of interesting events woven in a tapestry. Pull a thread, weave it here, craft a new tapestry out of the fabric of the old. Linear thought is an illusion, and the sequentially of events perceived by mortals is but a deceit of the will. You need a tool to be your chisel, craft another, such as that redhead you find so fascinating of late."

"But that tool, as you so put it, has already put himself into the middle of the action," Derek replied, "Surely you don't think the Heart of Destiny will be leaving him alone, given the time he has spent as its prior creator and wielder."

"Fie on that," Serendipity waved the point aside with a clawed hand, "The line of Saotome were born to be risk takers and movers of fate. He will adapt to whatever changes are required of him next, but for now he deserves to have the peace of the moment with she who gives his life its definition. What, are you so above it all that there beats not in you the heart of a romantic?"

Derek only smiled as he said, "Peace be to you, Queen of Illusion. There will be another time for Lord Saotome and I to cross paths together, when you are not so much in the mood to be playful."

"I am always playful," Serendipity smiled, "It is in my nature."

And with that she faded away, leaving only a smile in her passing...

Continuum # 74968231 (Robotech/Gundam Wing)

Team Alpha-Zero,  
Wing Gundam Training Unit

Akira Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Yuki (17) Pilot: Firebird Urika Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Konatsu (17) Pilot: Iron Chef Saber Kuno -Daughter of Shampoo and Kodachi (16) Pilot: Steel Serpent Trolla Galt -Zentraedi Clone-sister to Mireya (12) Pilot: Steelshark Dana Stirling -Daughter of Max and Mireya (10) Pilot: Sunstone

"Let me see if I have this right," said Admiral Hunter upon the completion of the debriefing of the five youthful pilots, "You say that you were transported-  
-or rather, as Lieutenant Galt so colorfully puts it, 'Whisked Away' to some other world where you were forced to partake in a major engagement against an unknown enemy trying to destroy all of reality...and that the party responsible for this was some sort of being who waved a hand and just magically transported you back to the practice range, no worse for the wearing?"

"Ah...yes, Ma'am," Akira winced slightly, "I know how it must sound, but that really is the way it happened. I...really can't explain any of it...it was like some really weird dream..."

"Yeah," Urika agreed, "Or a really bad movie."

Lisa Hunter eyed the junior lieutenant and rather coolly remarked, "I don't remember eliciting additional comment from you, Lieutenant Kuonji."

The chef-turned-pilot winced slightly and said a meet, "Yes, Ma'am," receiving sympathetic looks from the rest of her fellow pilots.

"Such freewheeling style as you have displayed within your unit is not appropriate when addressing a superior officer," Lisa further chided, "Your lieutenant may tolerate that sort of thing when you fly as a unit, but different rules apply here, and unless I open the floor to free discussions you will refer to your Lieutenant before addressing me, is that understood?"

"Yessir!" the rest of the Wing said as a unit.

"Good," Lisa turned back to Akira and said, "To put it mildly, the story you have related is an incredible and quite unbelievable affair that, frankly, has many disturbing implications should it prove to be the case. Fortunately for you the flight recorders back up much of what you are telling us, and since your Gundam Veritechs came through this affair without so much as a scratch on the surface, I think we can be prepared to make a few allowances, just so most of this remains confidential information and does not go on the official record."

"Yeah," Captain Rick Hunter replied, "No telling what the review board would say if they got wind of any of this."

His wife gave him a look of cool reproof, reminding him of her words of mere moments ago and the fact that he had just effectively delegitimized her argument, so he promptly gave her a sheepish look back and said, "Sorry...that was reflex."

Under different circumstances, and before anyone else but the Legendary Lisa and Rick Hunter, Akira might have had difficulty restraining a laugh at this exchange, and she could hear the stifled tittering of her fellow pilots struggling to maintain their own silence, though not before Admiral Hunter gave them all a cool dressing down with a look that reminded them that they were standing before the highest ranking officer in their service. It was an instructive moment and told the junior Airwomen that they were no longer playing in the minor leagues, which gave them cause for further reflection.

"Now then," the Admiral continued as if she had not been interrupted, "Given that you were faced with an extraordinarily difficult situation that demanded a high degree of ingenuity and innovative thinking, I think I feel confident in saying that you came through this crisis with flying colors. There are some minor points and some rather...unconventional exchanges on your flight recorders that some might deem of a highly inappropriate nature, but...we're prepared to make a few allowances, given the extraordinary way you all came through on this particular encounter. Granted that no word of this must ever be spoken of again outside this room without direct authorization, you five can take pride in having proved yourselves and the reliability of your combat systems. You put those war birds through tougher paces than they were even designed to handle...as much as fifty Gees of force, flying near to the surface of a dwarf star, and under attack by enemy units of an entirely unknown nature. Incredibly your machines are still air worthy, and they have nearly a full weapons load each...live fire, I might add...and I do intend to speak with some of you later on that subject."

Without needing to be named specifically, Urika, Trolla and Saber all gulped slightly.

"We will be studying and reviewing the transcripts from your flight recorders for quite some time," Lisa continued, "But the findings will remain classified until further notice. That means that you are not at liberty to discuss the details even among yourselves. If we should happen to get word that any bit of this leaked to the press or other unauthorized channels..."

"Ma'am," Akira spoke up, "On behalf of my unit, I assure you that won't happen."

"See that it doesn't," Lisa replied, "Or you will be held directly responsible, Senior Flight Lieutenant. Now, having established that, I think it's time that Rick and I gave you our evaluation on the performance of your Gundams."

The five pilots looked even more alertly at the Admiral, the pride in their machines clearly evident in their expressions. Lisa hid a smile at the recognition of this and turned instead to Mireya, who standing anxiously to one side and said, "Commander, your unit is to be commended and awarded meritory service badges for performance above the call of duty. I am awarding an honorary star of valor to the name of Unit Alpha-Zero and recommending a change of status upgrad from Training to a fully operational Combat Unit. Such skills and devotion to duty deserve to be recognized, and it would be a shame to break up such an effective team this early in their career. From now on you are to drill them as you would any newly commissioned unit that will see active service just as soon as we assign them permanent duty quarters. In recognition to your accomplishments with them to date I am also awarding you an Outstanding Training Ribbon with a further recommendation for recognition of your husband's contributions in creating this Team and bonding them to their fighters."

Mireya was stunned, and Max was in hardly any better condition. If a full battle group of Zentraedi were to lay a ground assault at that moment, it would have barely gotten a rise out of either one of them. The husband-and-white team felt as though their careers had just been salvaged from certain disaster by the praise of their longtime friend and commanding officer. Mireya in particular was frankly amazed that the rag-tag band of "square holes with round pegs" led by Lieutenant Saotome could even pass inspection, let alone be recognized in spite of the outlandish antics and behavior of "those sex-crazed and love-  
starved excuses for pilot-cadets" (as she often referred to them in private with her husband, especially when off the record).

But then the other boot dropped on her head as she realized the other implication of the Admiral's statement. She was now, effectively stuck training these BBNs ("Budding Bisexual Nymphomaniacs") for the duration, meaning more weeks, even MONTHS of further training and playing Chaperone around the sometimes clueless Akira and her prospective "Harem" of fellow pilots, one of them her very own clone-sister and another of them her daughter! The idea of having to ride shotgun and run roughshod over their "love nest" of a barracks, fending off Akira's potential suitors while having to outwit some of their more outlandish and ingenious schemes for bedding their "beloved" unit leader was enough to turn her green hair white...to say nothing about the impending aggravation that she knew she would have trying to keep these Ninnies from killing one another.

Unit cohesion? Sure, they might pull together in a crisis, but give them the sedentary life of flying routine missions and the whole group might washout within a week...and with them, Mireya could kiss her own brilliant career in the process. Oh, definitely...this was starting to look like a good time to faint, and after only a moment of internal debate she elected to do just that, right in front of the Admiral and both of their husbands.

"Huh?" Rick reacted when he saw the redoubtable Zentraedi go down with a faint murmur, "What happened to her all of a sudden?"

"Oh, nothing," Max replied, tongue-in-cheek as he went to the side of his wife, "Too much excitement. You know how it is, being a mother and all that..."

"Unfortunately I do," Lisa smiled, turning a sympathetic look towards a now quite visibly nervous Akira Saotome, who was becoming aware of the predatory and speculative looks being turned her way by her fellow Gundam pilots...

Continuum # 86741253 (Black Magic M-66/Ranma NK Project, by Celeste Byrd)

Adam (Michael) Saotome -Son of Ranma and Azusa, Cyborg Eve (Moira) Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Azusa, Cyborg, Twin Sister

A tall figure wearing sunglasses scanned the horizons before turning to his companion and saying, "The coast appears to be clear. No units operating between here and our objective. The Tokyo suburbs should afford us plenty of cover and room to operate without drawing the sort of unfavorable attention we need to avoid...at least until we are better established."

"That's good, Michael," his sister said warmly, "The military won't be able to find us without those tracking codes they built into our relays. I do hope that we will be safe enough to look up the old haunts in our memories. It will be good to explore our roots...now that we know about our past and who we really are, in spite of these artificial bodies."

"Yes," Michael examined his hand and could visualize the technical schematics to define every square micron of surface and internal composition, the quantifiable stress tolerances and limits that he could recognize from the reams and list of internal data that he could readily access. Then he smiled as he realized that all of that was nonsense. His father had taught him to look beyond his limitation, to erase them if necessary, and he could do that with relative ease now that he had experienced beyond the flesh to the full fighting spirit of his brother and sister Saotomes.

He turned a smile towards Moira, arguably the most important person in his world and a cause worth fighting for, his sister and companion...but so much else besides, like the better part of himself, and his co-equal in their new life of adventure.

"Shall we go, Michael?" she smiled at him, a smile which put the looming sunset to shame as he found himself returning that smile, sharing the hope with her that they would regain their lost humanity as they sought to find justice for themselves and their murdered father.

"Oh yeah," he replied, mounting his motorcycle as Moira gunned her own machine, creating a faint whine as the hybrid gas-and-electric powered vehicles kicked up to such horsepowerage that (which classified) would have put to shame a pair of full sized diesel engines. The machines were now "clean" of any tracking or military connections, their onboard computer systems having been mysteriously purged and rebooted with operating commands that left them exclusively under the direction of their riders. Inside were all the tools they would need for self-  
repairs, and their operating lives in the field were technically indefinite.

With luck and ingenuity they ought to be able to dodge their pursuers-both Military and Industrial-long enough to track down the parties responsible for the tragedy that had befallen their families, and come whatever may they would face their looming challenges together as true born Saotomes, and woe betide anyone who stood in the way of these Twin Terminators...

Continuum #47512936 (Ruronin Kenshin)

Hiroshi Honsamu -Son of Maki and Takai, Shinto Priest and Hybrid Dark Worlder Sayo Sanosuke -Daughter of Ranma and Kasumi, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu

Kurenai Yamaguchi was a simple man with simple tastes, a minor underboss in the Yakuza who answered to no one but his Obuyan, and under whom many Yakuza soldiers serve faithfully in their traditional roles as leg-bracers and lethal muscle. For all that this gave Yamaguchi the virtual power of life and death over the people who lived in Nerima, he actually exercised very little real control, his every action having to be cleared through his employer.

For all that, Kurenai took justifiable pride in himself as a "Numbers" man, a fellow who could turn an enormous profit for his boss through various enterprises-both legitimate and not-and make it all seem neat and legal with hardly any trace of illegality that might offer the police something to work with. Though admittedly a criminal he was a fairly honest member of the breed, never skimping so much as a yen from the books and being highly meticulous in balancing both sets of books so as never to give the Obuyan any cause to suspect him of misconduct (and no one lived very long who crossed this particular Obuyan). He ran a tight operation and felt fairly impervious to the reach of either law or rival Yakuza. Fear of his employer kept would-be enemies at bay, allowing Kurenai to run affairs without needless interference.

So imagine his surprise when one of the ricepaper doors to his office was knocked clear off the hinges, and into the room went sprawling one of his toughest soldiers, a man named Shinnosuke Reika, big and as hardy as a solid oak beam but now sporting an angry red bruise across his chest as if someone had struck him with an I-beam.

And past the fallen form of the unconscious martial artist stepped a slender girl dressed in a Samurai-like hakama. A darker haired man followed her into the room, himself dressed like a Shinto priest though his manner was more like a warrior in concealment.

"Who the hell are you?" Kurenai asked, stunned that anyone could penetrate so deep into a Yakuza-run office without him being any the wiser.

"You are Kurenai Yamaguchi?" said the brown haired girl, at whose side he now noted a sword was carried in its scabbard, thrust through her tabi.

"What is it to you?" Kurenai set aside the bowl of rice that he had been eating and snapped his fingers, expecting to be instantly answered by a dozen heavily armed men wielding fully automatic weapons.

When nothing happened after a full fifteen seconds, Kurenai snapped his fingers again, waiting to be answered.

"If you're waiting for your boys to show up," the young priest remarked, "I'm afraid you're going to have to do some waiting. My companion decided that they could use a nap, so they'll be a bit indisposed for the next couple of hours."

"Who-who are you people?" Kurenai's eyes widened.

"I am called Sanosuke Sayo," the girl replied as she calmly approached the center of the room, looking so relaxed that she might as well be strolling through a garden, "I have questions that I need to have answered concerning events taking place two decades ago around the house of Tendo Soun, who was my grandfather."

"Your...grandfather?" Kurenai's eyes widened, "You're the girl who has the papers we're after...but how did you get in here without my guys spotting you?"

"Oh, you mean your expensive monitoring equipment?" the dark haired boy replied, "Funny thing about technology...the more sophisticated it gets, the more vulnerable it is to a little Darkworlder magic."

"You...what?" Kurenai gasped when he saw the girl more closely this time, seeing a determined look in her eyes that was focused and purposeful...a look that froze his blood in its veins as it was neither cold nor friendly...but it seemed to read him straight through as if he were transparent.

When the girl reached the center of the room, however, hidden blades concealed beneath the wooden squares projected upward, and by all right they should have impaled the girl where she was standing, only her sword moved from its scabbard as though it were alive, and the next second a swath had been cut through the forest of spikes as though they were mere blades of grass before the scythe. The sword slid back into its sheath as the girl continued forward, hardly breaking her stride as she continued forwards towards Kurenai.

In desperation he reached for his concealed firearm, but no sooner did his hand slide through the panel and caress the handle of an automatic than he heard the click of a different kind of firearm, and the press of its barrel against his left temple.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a deep male voice remarked, "You wouldn't want to see what this guy can do to the top of your head...take my word on it, it isn't pretty."

"Who...?" Kurenai tried to turn his eyes without moving his head, feeling the sweat beat upon his forehead as he tried to estimate the size of the gun muzzle currently resting against the side of his face.

"Let's just say that I'm an interested observer," the man beside him remarked, "The lady has a question for you...it would be most impolite if you choose not to answer."

"I seek the man whom you work for," Sayo said with matter-of-fact calm, "A man who goes by the name of Taro."

"Looking for me, Toots?" yet another deep voice asked as a panel at the side of the room slid open and in stepped a man both tall and broad shouldered.

Kurenai's beads of sweat turned into rivulets of perspiration, for he knew his Boss was ticked but was disguising it behind a fa ade of amusement. He only got that way when he was planning to indulge in the wholesale slaughter of a lot of people."

"You are the one named Pantsaru Taro?" Sayo asked as she turned her eyes to meet the new challenge, and was rewarded by seeing the large man hesitate by a fraction.

"Pantsaru, huh?" the man's deep voice conveyed a heavy level of displeasure, "Don't know where you heard that, but it's rude to call somebody names when you're a guest in my house."

"I see no reason to indulge in formal pleasantries," Sayo replied, "With a man who has murdered my family and sought to take from them that which did not belong to you."

"So...you know about that, huh?" the man smiled slowly, "Yeah...I can tell just looking at you whose momma you claim. Too bad about that bitch...she crossed me one too many times and paid for it with her life. Guess maybe she survived the fall off that cliff and lived long enough to have you. Never could find the body...but after I broke your Dad's neck, guess she had nothing left to fight for."

"I...see," Sayo replied, betraying no emotion in her stance or features, "So you do not deny that you killed them."

"Deny it?" Taro grinned, "I'm proud of it! Offing those two was one of the happiest moments in my life. Too bad I never got to keep any souvenirs, I never had as much fun against anybody like your Dad, assuming he really was your father."

"A regular tough guy, aren't you?" Maki noted.

"Yeah, look who's posturing," Taro turned his eyes but not his face towards the Black Guard, "Gonna use that little popgun, Sonny?"

"Who are you calling Sonny?" Maki said as he holstered his gun and stood back from Kurenai, "Got the wrong idea here, pal...I'm not going to lift a finger either way. I'm just here to see that you and the little lady have a fair fight with no holds barred and no special tricks, not that she'll need any."

"You think so?" Taro snarled as he turned back towards Sayo, "I killed your Dad, and your Mom was just icing on the cake, and if you think you got any better chance against me, little girl..."

"That is yet to be decided," Sayo replied, "But so far I find myself greatly disappointed. There was another of the family of Taro who was many times the man I see before me. You are not even worth calling a man, you are more like a rabid animal who must be put out of his misery before you harm any others."

"You and what army, girlie?" Taro sneered, "Don't make me angry or I'll show you a side of me you won't like very much..."

"If you are referring to the beast that you become due to a curse that is your birthright," Sayo replied, "I am not much impressed. Even with that advantage you will not stand long before me. Hiroshi-sama."

"Huh?" Taro blinked, "How do you know about...?"

Hiroshi reluctantly gestured with a hand and a globe of water congealed from the moisture of the air, and with a toss of that hand he threw it at Taro, causing the man to back away as his form expanded in size to the monstrous shape of a Minotaur with tentacles and bat-wings.

Kurenai, already strained past the point where his nerves would fray, saw his boss manifesting in the terrible shape that made him a legend in the underworld and promptly fainted, not wanting to be party to any ensuing mayhem."

"Are you sure you want to play it like this?" Maki asked as he lifted an eyebrow to regard the burly monster.

"Positive," Sayo replied as she remained calm in the face of said monster, "The authorities would have many questions should a man turn up missing his head within this building, but a beast such as this is a curiosity of interest to few."

"That isn't what Dad was asking," Hiroshi noted.

"I understand," Sayo replied, "Though I am pledged to only take a life where there is need, I believe, under the circumstances, that such a thing is justified. Besides, I wish him to go to his ancestors this way, knowing that he never stood a chance before the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu."

"Nice girl," Maki smiled with a nod of his head towards his son, "Reminds me a lot of your mother."

"That's what worries me," Hiroshi sighed, unsure whether this was a good or bad thing, but willing to allow Sayo to pursue her chosen option.

Taro glared at the girl and growled menacingly, confident in his power and speed, which made him practically invincible...and she dared to threaten him with a mere reversed-bladed sword? He roared his disdain for the girl and prepared to attack him...

And saw her smile for the first time as she calmly reversed her scabbarded blade and prepared to draw in a style very different from the one that he had last seen used by her mother...

Continuum # 73542196 (Patlabor/Iczer-One)

Muku Dori Senzenen -Daughter of Mikado and Akane, Iczelion Warrior Rhea Kano -Daughter of Iczer-One and Nagisa, Iczer Four

"Hey Boss!" Muku called out as she vaulted the railing and returned to the construction site.

"There you are," the supervisor turned to glare her way, "Where the hell have you been, Senzenen? That was a three hour lunch break you just took!"

"Three hours?" Muku paused to reflect on that, "Uh...sorry, something really important came up and I had to take care of it. Please don't be mad with me, I'll try and make it up to you..."

"Spare me," her supervisor replied, "I got a call from the Boss excusing your absence or I'd bust your ass for this. Some kind of family emergency or something..."

"Uh...yeah," Muku replied nervously, "Or something."

"Well, get back to work," the supervisor pointed to her Patlabor unit, "You still have to work to earn your rating as a pilot."

"Yessir!" Muku nodded, and at once she ran to her Labor and leaped into the cockpit, strapping herself down and running through the checklist before powering it up and readying it for normal operations.

As she did all this she heard a voice telepathically make contact with her mind, and then she heard Rhea's reassuring voice ask, **You're happy when you work with these machines, aren't you?**

"Of course," Muku said aloud, turning her gaze to catch sight of her partner standing on a tree branch not very far away, "In human terms it's what I live for...to build things, to make things, not destroy things like we often do on our missions."

**I wish I could fully understand these feelings,** Rhea mentally sighed, **To me the device you operate is too primitive, and it lacks the true interface value of an Iczer Robo.**

"Maybe so," Muku smiled, "But there is joy to be found in simple objects. By the way...speaking of our Iczer-Robo...did your parents freak when we told them about what happened?"

**Ah...** Rhea hesitated, and then she teleported to the side of Muku's labor, just out of sight of the supervisor and the overhead monitoring equipment (which mysteriously began directing their attention in a different direction), "Actually, they were rather surprised that anyone would want to try and use Gamma-Theta in such an...unorthodox manner, but I tried explaining about Lord Thrym and what a gentleman he was about the whole matter, and since there was no actual damage sustained through their...activities..."

"Yeah, that was sure weird though," Muku remarked, "The way that guy showed up, gave us a lift off that doomed planetoid, then hit on Gamma-Theta...like she really was a woman and not just a big...well...you know..."

"Indeed," Rhea glanced down, "That was very...peculiar. I never suspected that my other self could feel that way after only a few compliments, and then when she told me to...ah...how did she put it?"

"To back off and mind our own business?" Muku supplied, "Yeah...that was sure something. Bet your Momma's Iczer Robo never talked back to her like that."

"I don't believe so," Rhea sighed, "I guess she was...ah...hard up for a date?"

"Or he was," Muku replied as she worked the controls of her labor and began lifting polysteel girders into position.

Rhea was silent for a long moment as she watched her partner work the controls over her Labor, then she leaned closer to the operator's cage and said, "Speaking of which, when your shift is over...do you want to do anything?"

"Sure," Muku replied, "I'd love to go shopping with you, Honey, maybe hitting the Arcade..."

"Actually," Rhea paused, "I was thinking of something a little more...private..."

"Private?" Muku asked, and in reply she picked up the mental images in Rhea's mind and nearly slipped her grip on the controls holding up the girder. She steadied herself at the last second and avoided a disaster, but not before she heard the Supervisor call out, "SENZENEN! What are you doing up there? You haven't been drinking, have you?"

"Oboy," Muku winced.

"I'm distracting you," Rhea said, "I'll come back when you're not busy, and then...we'll find someplace appropriately private."

"Someplace...private?" Muku said faintly, "Oboy...it it's not one thing in a day, it's another..."

But still, in spite of it all, she could not help smiling...

Continuum #3742196 (Aiyaa, My Goddess! By Trella)

Freya Kuno -Goddess of Love and Battles, wife of Tatewaki Lyn Reikou Kuno -Daughter of Tatewaki and Freya, Valkyrie in Training

"Hey, Freya!" hailed a high-ranking Valkyrie by the name of Voslinde, "Great game, huh? But where did you and Lyn go after halftime? And what's with the guy you've got slung over your shoulder? That's so 10th Century..."

"Hey Vos, no time to chat," Freya called out to one of the legendary Daughters of Odin, "Gotta process this guy through customs at Valhalla. Is Tyr doing anything at the moment?"

"Just drilling the raw recruits newly enrolled into the Einheriar," Voslinde replied, "That guy a new conscript? He looks kind of alive to me...hey! Doesn't he have the same aura as your mortal husband?"

"Long story, Sugar," the Vanir-born love goddess replied, "Let's just say I've got some plans for this boyo and leave it at that. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to catch the express shuttle."

Voslinde watched as her friend and fellow goddess walked away with the unconscious one-armed Darth Kuno then turned a questioning look towards Lyn and asked, "Has she been up to anything lately?"

"Ah...could you be a little more specific, Aunt Vos?" Lyn replied, "We are talking about Mom here..."

"Hmmm...good point," Voslinde nodded, "By the way, you did pretty good out there on the field today. Those Giants never knew what hit 'em."

"Was there a lot of mayhem after the game?" Lyn asked.

"No more than the usual after-game 'Wewuzrobbed' fracas," Voslinde waved the point dismissively, "Sorry you had to miss it, though...we had quite a Keg party at Volstag's after it was over."

"Yeah, lucky me," Lyn replied faintly, "Ahm...Aunt Vos? Can I impose on you for a minute? I need to get back to Midgard and Mom won't let me have the keys to the chariot, so..."

"Ah, wanna get home and look up your mortal friends, eh?" Voslinde nodded sagely.

"Well..." Lyn fidgeted slightly, "It's just...it's summer break in Nerima and...well...there are some guys I'd like to look up right about now and..."

"Say no more, nor even less," Voslinde winked knowingly, "Just so happens I was about to leave on call to pick up a special order, some guy who died a heroic death, you know the drill. I can give you a ride on my steed, Whiney, we could be there practically in a minute."

"Cool!" Lyn smiled, "You're the greatest, Aunt Vos."

''Fraid not," the Valkyrie said with a lopsided grin, "The greatest is your Mom, whether it's in bed or the battlefield, "Never have known another like her."

"Yeah," Lyn said faintly, "She's sure something all right..." mentally adding [And just what that is, I'm not sure I want to find out...]

Continuum #59343921 (Nabiki 1/2: A Very Scary Thought)

Tenko Masaki -Daughter of Tenchi and Ryoko Teneka Masaki -Son of Tenchi and Ayeka Veil Morisato -Daughter of Keiichi and Belldandy Ekko Daitokuji -Daughter of Beiko and Aiko Lylac Tendo -Daughter of Nabiki and Shampoo Kihoshi Kuramitsu -Daughter of Kiyone and Mihoshi

"Well now," Washu remarked, "You kids have a good time saving the Multiverse?"

"Oh yes," Tenko nodded, "If good time is your idea of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat with precision timing."

"Can't think of anything more exciting myself," Ekko mused, giving Lylac a fond look, "Unless it means sitting down and discussing serious matters with our parents."

"Discussing?" Lylac raised a purple eyebrow in suspicion, "What things?"

"Like that takes a rocket scientist to figure out," Teneka must faintly.

"It was fun while it lasted," Kihoshi remarked, "But Aunt Sasami...who were all those guys we ran into near the end there?"

"That...is a pretty good question," Sasami raised a pale blue eyebrow, "I never did get to list them by name, but I could tell that they were from lots of different places."

"Champions and heroes of many different worlds," Veil supplied in answer, "So many possible alternate realities represented in one place, and all summoned there by that mysterious fellow named Derek. I wonder...I believe that there is some mention of him in the files of Yggdrasil..."

"Not a whole lot from what I was able to gather," Washu revealed, "But from that I was able to gleam that he is one of that mysterious race that calls itself the Guardians. I believe Tokimi might know more about him...I'll have to contact her sometime and ask."

"Well, the important thing is that we're all back together and alive in one piece," Kiyone smiled, then paused as something belatedly occurred to her, "Uh...where's Ryeka?"

"Eh?" Tenko looked around, "A good question..."

"Oneechan's missing?" Teneka raised an eyebrow.

"That ain't good," Kihoshi murmured.

"I don't understand," Washu began running her hands over her control station, "You should all have been together as a group...why wasn't she here on your arrival?"

"Do you think, perhaps, that there might be a reason?" Veil inquired.

"I can think of one," Ekko replied, "Unfinished business."

"Unfinished business?" Lylac repeated.

The cabbit on Kihoshi's shoulder mewed inquiringly, and then Sasami said, "That's right...Ryo-Aki's missing too! She must still be with Ryeka."

"Now calm down everybody," Kiyone urged, "There's no need to panic...even if her parents are going to freak if she turns up as still missing..." Kiyone paused, blinked her eyes then said, "WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? That's a hell of a good reason to panic! You know what Ryoko and Ayeka are going to do to us when they find out?"

"Now hold onto yourselves," Washu urged, "I've got a link on Ryeka's biosigniture, she's...oh my."

"Oh my?" Lylac asked.

"She's on another reality...one closely-no-identical to the Quantum Flux signature of that Ayane character," Washu replied as she stared in dismay at the monitor readings.

"My sister is on Tofu Ayane's world?" Tenko blinked, "But why?"

"Like I said," Ekko nodded, "Unfinished business."

"But what kind of business are we talking about...?" Lylac started to say when she caught her companion's frank expression and said, "Oh my..."

Continuum #96214735 (Dragon Ball Z)

Ayane Tofu -Daughter of Korato and Kasumi, a Saiyajin Warrior Cerdwin -Daughter of Lung and Azusa, a Celtic Demi-Goddess Berka -Daughter of Tatewaki and Sakura, a Kitsune Fox-Warrior and certifiable Genius Ryeka Masaki -Daughter of Ryoko and Ayeka, half Juraian Princess

"Wow, I'm back!" Ayane said cheerfully as she stood outside the gates of her high school, "I hope I'm not too late for classes!"

"As a matter of fact," a voice coyly replied, "You have already missed morning study period and lunch recess. It is fourth period right now, not that this inconsequential element should concern you."

"Huh?" Ayane looked up then groaned, "Berka...don't tell me you've been waiting here for me all this time?"

"Actually," replied the silver-haired Fox Woman in her sleek powered armor (which just happened to look really cool and fashionable with enough "skin" showing to attract the attention of every heterosexual male and bisexual/lesbian female student who saw her right about then), "I made a series of calculated predictions that you would be showing up about this time, and my calculations are never in error. Are you prepared now to pick up where we left off when we were so rudely interrupted?"

"Berka," Ayane sighed, "Why are you doing this? We fight practically every day and it never gets either of us anywhere, why do you keep trying?"

"I keep trying because I refuse to back down or concede to you the field of battle," Berka vaulted from the wall and assumed a fighting pose, "Cerdwin will be mine one day, so prepare to defend yourself!"

Ayane was about to fall into a defensive crouch of her own when a series of ruby-red light flashes struck the ground in front of Berka, and then all at once a blue haired figure dropped down from the sky and stood protectively in front of Ayane.

"Back off, Girlfriend, unless you want to face some real trouble!" Ryeka announced as she stood at the ready.

"What?" Berka exclaimed, "Who are you? How dare you interfere in a private duel..."

In response to this, Ryeka lifted her hand and waves of force arched out to form an invisible shield, which same she projected at the armored Fox-girl and closed about her into a force-bubble, which same she lifted off the ground and held suspended in mid-air by about two meters.

"Curse you for cheating, Ayane!" Berka declared as she angrily pounded against the globe, then tried to blast it, only to discover that it contained her energy blasts and therefore singed her fur all over.

"Actually, you shouldn't blame anyone but yourself, Hothead," Ryeka replied, "I've heard enough about you from Ayane-chan that I've got a pretty good handle on what's making you so ditzy."

"Ryeka-san?" Ayane asked, "You really don't have to interfere on my behalf, I can handle whatever Berka has planned for me this time."

"But wouldn't you rather solve things instead of letting them drag on forever?" Ryeka asked, "Remember what I told you before about what's probably been the bee in her bustline all this time?"

"Huh?" Ayane blinked, then suddenly she felt nervous, "I-I don't think she's really like that...I mean...do you honestly...?"

"Ayane-chan!" a cheerful voice called out as a blonde haired girl came bounding out from the gates surrounding the high school, "It's you, you're back and you're safe! I was so worried!"

"Eh?" Ayane turned to see the golden haired girl vaulting into her arms and was nearly tackled down by the Celtic demi-Goddess, "OOF! Easy there, Cerdwin...I'm all right..."

"Cerdwin, huh?" Ryeka smile slyly, "Awfully happy to see you, doncha think?"

"Unhand her this minute, you...you brute!" Berka protested, "Cerdwin belongs to me, you can't have her!"

"Oh yeah," Cerdwin grinned as she hugged Ayane tightly in her embrace, "I was worried for you, but Berka said you'd be okay. She told me that you wouldn't die in a crash landing because you were destined to fight her again and she wouldn't let you die until that happened. Actually, I think she was even more worried about you than I was, but you know how she doesn't like to show stuff like that. I mean, she's really a pretty nice person, if you overlook all the death machines and challenges she keeps throwing at you every morning..."

"Do tell," Ryeka was now grinning as she studied her captive, "You were worried about her, huh?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about or implying..." the Silver-haired girl said as her nine tails flashed in nervous agitation, her eyes registering an ever-so-slight edge of near-panic.

"Sure you don't," Ryeka leered, "You're so hot to kill her that you took time to take a bath and get dressed up just so you could properly greet her. I'll bet you've even taken breath mints."

"Well...there's no reason why a girl should not look and act her best before a fight," Berka said rather defensively.

"And if you won, then you'd be ready to do some proper celebrating, eh?" Ryeka said slyly.

"What are you getting at?" Ayane asked, managing to free one arm from Cerdwin's death-hug.

"Oh...nothing," Ryeka mused, "Tell you what...why don't we take this somewhere private and discuss things like reasonable, mature people? I'll be happy to play in-between negotiator to help settle manners in a reasonably...even handed and mature manner."

It was about a time like this that anyone who knew Ryeka in even a casual sense would have known to be on their guard about this point, because the half-Juraian Princess had a certain...reputation for opportunism in situations just like this, and as her brother, Teneka, would have pointed out, Ryeka was never so suspicious nor dangerous as when she was offering to do something "out of the goodness of her heart," especially when she clearly had...ulterior motives.

But then again, with the exception of Ayane, these people did not know her, and even Berka found the offer a reasonable alternative to hanging around in Ryeka's force-globe. Even Ayane did not suspect what her newfound friend had in mind by making her offer, but Ryeka meant to "enlighten" them shortly on that and a whole range of related topics, preferably in the privacy of the school locker-  
room sauna (privacy insured by the judicious employment of a force-shield), and when she was done "explaining" matters to the three friends...well, let's just say that things were about to get interesting in this particular version of Nerima...

Continuum #32145896 [A Tale of Two Wallets (Version Two)]

Shanma Saotome -Eldest daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Curse of the Were-cat.  
Mace Saotome -Shanma's little brother, also has the same ability.  
Ganymede Kuonji -Hermaphrodite offspring of Ukyo and Makoto Kuonji, has Senshi abilities.  
Kokaku Tendo -Kachima's twin sister and an Apprenticed Healer.  
Kinko Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Akane from a near-parallel dimension.

"Hold on a moment, kids!" Ganglot announced as she stared into the crystal globe before her, "I'm getting a major level power surge here...I think we're finally about to hit the..."

A flash of light heralded the sudden appearance of five teenagers in the midst of the art studio's main floor, and then some bewildered faces looked around until recognition finally set in of their surroundings, at which point Shanma said, "Hey...we're back! It's Aunt Ganglot's studio!"

"Yeah," Mace agreed, "You ought to recognize it, you've done enough nude modeling here."

"So have I," Ganymede mused, "Let's just be glad that we made it back safe and sound, and look...your sister, Kokaku, is here to greet you."

"Shanma, Mace-chan," Kokaku looked around, at their group with a very anxious expression then said, "Where is Kachima?"

"Huh?" Kinko also looked around and said, "Hey, you're right...where'd she get off to?"

"Getting off may be the operating...Mom?" Ganymede blinked his eyes as a woman even taller than himself rushed up to embrace him.

"Oh, my son!" Kuonji Makoto cried as she hugged the hermaphroditic boy to her chest, "Where have you been? Your Fama and I have been so worried about you..."

"Yeah, Sugar," replied Ukyo as she eyed her won with a patented "this better be good" expression, "You kids have been gone for over three whole hours!"

"Three hours?" Mace blinked, "Is that all it was?"

"I take it you've been keeping yourselves busy?" Ranma asked, eyeing first his son and then his eldest daughter, "And what exactly did happen to your sister anyway?"

"Ah...I don't know exactly how to answer that one, Pop," Shanma said nervously.

"Try," Nabiki said as she also gave their children a patented motherly scrutiny.

"And it had better be good," Shampoo added, paying special attention to her son and daughter.

"And who exactly is this?" Ukyo asked, eyeing Kinko with a faintly puzzled expression, "She looks a little like...Akane?"

"Ah...long story," Kinko replied, refraining from using the word "Fama."

"I would imagine so," Ganglot mused as the golden skinned woman joined the others in studying the new arrivals, "At a guess I'd say you weren't where you belong, young lady. You do have parents of your own that will be worried sick about you."

"Er...yeah...I'd imagine so," Kinko winced, "Do you...think maybe you could do something about that, Auntie?"

"I think I can swing a little Temporal time travel so they won't notice you've been gone as long as you have," Ganglot smiled, "Especially since I've already made contact with the me of that Timeframe, a very reasonable sort in my own humble opinion."

She waved a hand and conjured up a portal in the clear space beside them, and as Kinko gazed into this portal she saw a studio identical to the one that she was in beckoning on the other side. She grinned and said, "Thanks, Aunt Ganglot...you're the best!"

"Hey!" Mace suddenly protested, "You're going already?"

"Ah...yeah," Kinko hesitated, "I gotta get back...my folks...my real folks will be worried sick about me."

"But...well..." Mace hesitated, "You just got here..."

"Yeah, but..." Kinko glanced at Ukyo then said, "My...fama married somebody else, and...I don't really belong here. I wish I didn't have to go, but..."

"I thought you'd never say that," Ganglot grinned, "Granted."

"Huh?" Kinko blinked, "But..."

There was a sudden flash of light and suddenly the portal vanished. Nothing else appeared to have changed, but now Ukyo was glaring at her crossly, which made Kinko wonder if she had done something to offend this near-equivalent of her biological "father."

"Well, young lady?" the sex-changing chef inquired, "I'm waiting to hear it."

"Hear...huh?" Kinko blurted.

"You heard what your Fama asked you," Makoto said levelly, "Where have you been for the past week, young lady?"

"Oh, give her a break, you two," said another familiar voice as Kinko found herself being embraced by her mother, Akane, "She's probably been through quite an ordeal. Give her time to catch her breath, then you can grill her."

"Mom?" Kinko blinked, "You're here too?"

"Well, where else would I be when I find out that you and your brother have been getting into trouble?" Akane challenged, turning a look over her shoulder as she asked, "Which reminds me...where did you kids get off to this morning, Honsamu?"

"Honsamu?" Ganymede blinked.

"Interesting," Nabiki mused, "Suddenly I have two overlapping sets of memories...curious..."

"But...what happened?" Ganymede asked, then glanced down at himself and had another start, feeling along his chest to find the absence of an all-too-  
familiar padding as his chest had expanded to accord much broader shoulders, "They're gone!"

"But not forgotten," Ganglot smiled, "I...instituted a few changes. I'm a wish-  
granting Oni, remember?"

"Huh?" Ranma said, "You granted somebody a wish right now? Who?"

"It's nothing you need be concerned about, Saotome," Ganglot assured, "And you won't even notice that there has even been a change...at least for a few more days, until the memories begin to merge and resurface."

"Memories?" Shampoo, asked, "Of what?"

"Of two slightly different but overlapping timeframes that I have just merged and combined into one," Ganglot replied, "Kinko-chan asked that she not have to be separated from these others, and now her wish is granted, to say nothing of allowing me to correct a dimensional instability in the fabric of this timefield."

"You what?" Mace reacted, then blinked his eyes and said, "She...doesn't have to leave?"

"'Fraid not, Kiddo," Ganglot replied, "Guess you two are stuck with each other for the duration."

"Huh?" both Kinko and Mace replied, exchanging looks before hastily glancing in different directions.

"But why have you done this?" Makoto asked.

"Yeah," Ukyo agreed, "What was so out of whack that you felt like changing things...this time?"

"Oh...let's just say that a certain set of conditions was created by a certain person who could not make up her mind about a particular issue," the Oni Princess slyly answered, "Said person had a choice between two different suitors, and in one continuum she chose one way, while in another she chose differently, both times creating a different set of conditions. But here both choices were combined into one, and so a rift is healed that was divided."

"I'm not sure what any of that means," Akane said, "But it sounds more like something revolving around Ranma."

"So...you mean the two timelines have been combined into one?" Shanma asked, turning to Ganymede then poking him in the chest with a finger.  
"Oh, not to worry, kids," Ganglot winked, "I worked in that little detail and gave your boyfriend here a Jusenkyo curse."

"I-what?" Ganymede blurted, the gasped when Nabiki poured a glass of water over his head and caused HIM to turn into a HER with the restoration of HER very generous assets.

"Aiyaa..." Shanma murmured, amazed at discovering that Ganymede was now twice as beautiful as ever.

"What gives, Sugar?" Ukyo asked, "What are you looking so surprised for?"

"Yeah," Ranma said, "What's so surprising about knowing what you inherited from your 'Old Man,' right Ucchan?" he grinned.

"Bite me, Ranchan," Ukyo grinned back, only to look slightly disconcerted when Akane sidled up and took one arm while Makoto took the other.

"But you'd better not try it when we're around," Akane warned.

"Yeah," Makoto said firmly and without equivocation, "Ucchan belongs to us, you have your own wives to play with, remember?"

"Wait a minute," Kinko said, "Both of them? That means...?" she looked towards Ganymede-chan, who looked back with equal amazement.

"We really are brother and sister now," Ganymede-chan said in slowly dawning comprehension.

"You still have your third transitional phase when you assume your identity as a Senshi," Ganglot noted, "But for now I think you had best get used to the name Honsamu, which is how everyone else remembers you."

"I'm not sure that I entirely approve," Nabiki said, "But I have to admit, contrasting my two sets of memories now, I would definitely call this an improvement."

"But mother...Great-Godmother," Kokaku spoke up, "What about Kachima, my sister? Why isn't she here with these others?"

"Ah yes," Nabiki turned back to the Oni Princess, "That was a question I intended to get back to you about..."

"Not my doing," Ganglot shrugged, "Near as I can tell, it's Kachima's choice to stay off-plane for an extended visit. I can track her down but I don't think it will make much difference...she'll come back when she's ready to return home and not before. I think there is some goal that she is working towards..."

"Oh yeah," Shanma agreed, "I'd definitely call it that."

"Your daughter...met someone she likes, Uncle and Aunties," Ganymede further elaborated, "I think she wants to spend more time with the one she likes..."

"The one she...likes?" Ranma suddenly bristled, "Who is he and why does he think he's good enough for my kid?"

"Did someone defeat Kachima in battle, like you did my sister?" Kokaku wondered.

"What?" both Ganymede and Shanma replied together.

"Don't tell us you have forgotten the formal challenge that you answered, Daughter?" Shampoo said rather archly, "You formally lost and acknowledged the honorable victory of your Airen...excuse me, iinazuke."

"I-Iinazuke?" Ganymede repeated.

"Airen?" Shanma was equally dumbstruck.

"Sure," Nabiki said, "You know...the way the two of you chose to seal the pact that will unite the houses of Saotome and Kuonji, as per the agreement of your respective grandfathers?"

"Yeah," Ukyo agreed, giving Ranma a side-glance, "Glad somebody finally remembered a little issue of family honor."

"Ouch," Ranma winced, "Guess maybe I deserved that."

"Well now, husband," Nabiki smiled as she arched the word in a suggestive manner, "Things could always be worse than they are, or rather than they might have been if you had chosen to marry Ukyo instead of us."

"Indeed," Shampoo gave Ukyo a sly look, "Life with her might not have been so bad, though I'm sure Makoto and Akane would be the first to raise objections."

"What are you talking about?" Makoto asked, frowning slightly.

"You better not be implying what I think you're implying, Sis," Akane matched her co-wife's expression.

"Heh, well," Ranma sweated a bit, "Like Nabiki said, things could always be worse..."

"Oh yes indeed," Ganglot agreed, "You could, for example, have married Kuno Tatewaki."

"NANI?" came the near-universal reaction of her much-dismayed houseguests...

Continuum # 62491378 (Honor and Loyalty, an Elseworlds story by John Walter Biles)

Touga (Tomoe) Kuno -Son of Tatewaki and Ranma,  
Ryonosuke Senzenen -Son of Mikado and Natsume Xandar Kurenai -Son of Sasuke and Kaori Yoriko Kuonji -Daughter of Ranma and Ukyo

"Well, my Lord," Ryonosuke sighed, "It is finally done and everything appears to be returned to normal...or should I say...my lady?"

"However you like," said Touga-chan, who-in female guise-preferred to go by the name of Tomoe as they lay together staring at the ceiling, "Our adventures through time most assuredly were enlightening, but there is no place like home and all of that."

"Especially when your home is quite literally your castle," Ryonosuke turned to study the beautiful profile beside him, "Still and all...it was interesting having those other people around...the ones who you could truthfully claim for your brothers and sisters..."

"Indeed," Tomoe mused, "I believe that I shall miss them most of all, but in the end it would be...too complicated to have them around, and I am not entirely certain that they would have approved of our relationship had we...chosen to reveal that aspect of our chosen lifestyle."

"I agreed with you that none could know the truth, my Lady," Ryonosuke said, "I have no right to aspire to be more than your faithful retainer...but...you have always been first in my heart, and my loyalty is given to you without question."

"This I have always known, my love," Tomoe replied, "But in truth I will need your strength more than ever in the coming years. We have a difficult struggle ahead of us, and moments such as this, when we can be ourselves together, are few and far between."

"Sadly so," Ryonosuke replied, "I rather imagine that it's much the same for your sister, Yoriko."

"The fact that I cannot acknowledge her as my sister, or even admit to the fact that we are blood related, wears on me more than even you could know," Tomoe murmured, "The madness that plagued my mother and her father, that caused him to tragically be at odds with her mother, is a burden I do not wish for her to share. Much rather I would that she view her father as a noble warrior with a tragic past, much like that fellow in the leather jacket whom we encountered not too long ago."

"Indeed," Ryonosuke said, "I had heard that Saotome Ranma was a powerful and lordly figure, but to meet even one version of that reality was to be moved to awe. No wonder you are so powerful if you had a man like him for your mother."

"Well...I rather imagine you face similar difficulties in confessing to the identity of your own mother," Tomoe smiled, "The lady Natsume was reputed to be of great beauty and nobility, but to reveal that about yourself would be to invite the scandal that your father thought necessary to avoid."

"It's true, my lord," Ryonosuke sighed, "Would that it were not so."

"We all live in the hope that a more perfect world may someday be created," Tomoe replied as her hand idly brushed a pile of books that she had recently "borrowed" from a certain library and kept hidden in her robes until she found the time to examine them at leisure, "But perhaps one day we can make a world where position and birth are less important than one's own abilities...at least that is the world that I hope one day to craft through my labors."

"You truly believe that the answer lies in the pages of those tomes, my Lady?" Ryonosuke asked skeptically, "A book on military history, a handbook on Chemistry and Physics, a book on the history of Law and Government, and a book on collected works of poetry?"

"Not much to build a future on, I know," Tomoe smiled, "But you could do a lot more with even less, and I intend to commit to memory the complex formulas contained within those volumes."

"You always say that knowledge is power," Ryonosuke mused, "And I trust in you to always fulfill your promises, nor have I ever yet been disappointed."

"So happy to please you, my love," Tomoe smiled as she ran a hand over the young man's broad chest.

"Ah..." Ryonosuke said sheepishly, "That didn't exactly come out the way I meant it..."

"Not at all," Tomoe chuckled throatily, leaning closer to the man to bring her face and body into even closer contact, "I intend to keep on pleasing you in the future...whatever the future may hold for us both."

Any response the handsome young man might have made was cut off by a pair of warm lips and the caress of the comely body pressing against him...and meanwhile looking on from the vantage of the rafters the Ninja known as Xandar sighed and said, "They're at it again..."

"My brother-cum-sister is a most energetic person," Yoriko agreed, "But what he says is true...the future must be shaped by our actions if this world is to ever achieve the sort of wonders we witnessed in that other dimension."

"So," Xandar mused, "You've become a believer in his cause, then?"

"I believe that we will all need to work hard if we are to survive and prosper in these troubled times," Yoriko replied, "All of us must do our part and play our roles...if only we knew where Minx had gotten off to by herself."

"A good question," Xandar replied, "But knowing our sister's predilections, I think I have my own suspicions on that count..."

Continuum # 46972185 (Shampoo 1/2, by D.B Sommers)

Herb -Prince of the Musk Dynasty, transformed by magic into a Silver Chinese Dragon

In all his time of plotting and his dreams of empire he had never conceived of such monumental evil. Even when in the service of the all-conquering black dragon, Maelstrom, he had not been prepared to encounter a will devoted solely to the promotion of death and ultimate annihilation, for Herb had seen himself more in the manner of a conqueror, another Great Khan destined to rise in authority and power as he stretched out a taloned hand to grasp the mastery of the world that he had always considered his birthright.

To say that he had been deeply disillusioned by his encounters with the other Ranma on that planetoid of destruction would have been too mild an understatement. Herb had dreamed his dreams with the thought that he was building a future dynasty that would fulfill his goal of uniting all of Asia. The dark ambitions of Maelstrom had only concerned him so far as service could bring him closer to his ambition, it had never really occurred to him that the end result of his schemes might be the death of an entire planet.

Now Herb returned to the caves in which he had slept so many years, hibernating and growing slowly in power to where he could emerge once more and be master of his world. To his dismay he had discovered that much had changed in such a relatively short time and that his mercenary army had been replaced by a localized militia outfit in the turbulent and unstable times that had arisen with the collapse of the Communist state in China. Like so many Empires before it, the government of Beijing had proven incapable of holding in check the nationalist sentiments of the various ethic regions within their Empire, and with the loss of central authority (and its iron grip on military rule) had come factionalism and civil war with each state amassing power to "defend" itself against its neighbors. Such a thing had been inconceivable only a few years back, but now it seemed certain indeed that China would follow the example originally set down by the Soviet Union.

This was not anticipated by Herb in any of his projections. The territory belonging to the Musk was now under the dominion of a localized tyrant who took the name of Baron Li-Ching and styled himself as a conqueror, ready to move onto and forcibly assimilate his neighboring rivals. The man was petty and little more than a bandit, but he had presumed to dwell within the palace of the Musk and claim it for his base of operations, an affront to everything that the Musk had stood for, and so he had to be taught his error as an example to others.

Yet though Herb had found it ridiculously easy to crush the worm and scatter his army, he found he lacked the following he had once enjoyed as Lord of the Dragon Clan, to command the other houses of the Dynasty, which largely had gone into hiding when certain key leaders had been taken as hostage. It would take months, possibly even years, for Herb to build back on what had been lost, and even so it would mean his carefully worked plans would be postponed even further into the future.

Worse still, he discovered that the Amazon nation was on the rise under the leadership of the newly appointed Warrior Queen (formerly a Matriarch) named Perfume, a pink-haired tart he all too readily remembered from a prior encounter, who was in turn served by Lime, now happily married to an Amazon named Cabinet, while Mint had become, effectively, the lap dog of his own Amazon cousin. The utter gall and effrontery of this Perfume in daring to not only give shelter to Musk warriors but to count them as part of her own growing forces was only slightly less galling than the realization on Herb's part that there would most likely have to be an alliance between their two peoples to counter an even greater menace from up north where a Mongolian menace was taking shape on the horizon. Herb would sooner have eaten raw nails than accept the scar-faced Amazon Queen for an ally, but that was exactly the choice that he was facing as he curled up in his cave and considered his options, eliminating alternative choices as he inwardly debated the merits and faults of each suggestion of his subconscious.

In the end he had only one option, which was to swallow his pride and help protect the future.

Still and all, Herb did find odd comfort in one realization that came to him at this moment. Was this bitterness he felt even a fraction of the magnitude of what he had witnessed in the eyes of his once-hated enemy, Saotome? Surely that mortal had gone through hell and back enough times that it made the choices Herb was facing seem like a relative picnic. Not for all his original dreams of empire would Herb trade places with a human who had willingly accepted the Lord of Destruction into his heart as an ally.

Thinking this, Herb pondered the proud youth who had called himself Cinnamon Saotome...his parentage unmistakable, as was the nobility of his defiant features. In all his thoughts about the future, Herb had not taken much time to consider such matters as the begetting of offspring, let alone to father a child off his most hated rival (the concept alone gave him a distinctive shudder of revulsion), and yet...and yet there had been that about the youth that had impressed Herb greatly. There was indeed a noble son of the house of the Dragon, a worthy successor to the name of the Musk Dynasty, a fierce and determined youth who clearly would allow nothing and no one to stand in the way of his own ambitions, and yet one who understood such concepts as compassion and mercy...elements that were alien to Herb's own aloof nature.

With such a charismatic young man on his side Herb could well found a new army and build a strong path to the future. Being now of Draconic nature and lifespan, Herb could naturally live to see such a being emerge as the product of his labors. The fact that Herd did not currently have a female companion who might give him such a son was irksome...and yet...destiny might still have provided him with the means of rectifying that admitted shortcoming.

Herb could not describe what it was that had drawn his attention to one girl from the midst of so many Saotome offspring from other worlds...perhaps it was her unusual platinum hair color, or perhaps there was that same spark in her eyes that reflected the pride of the Saotome. Herb could only remark to himself that there was something about the girl that had interested him like no other, and in that he sensed a potential to explore that might well bear fruit for the future he was after. Perhaps conquering her would prove to be an even more challenging task than his dreams of mastering China.

Her mused his dreams of empire, and thought again of this girl who had caught his fancy. He needed to know more about her, such as why he felt certain that there was a link binding the two of them together. He would gather his strength and then approach this girl at a time and place of his choosing and see if she were the type who could be won over by his efforts. Perhaps she might even consent to being his consort, or even his queen, if he succeeded in capturing his empire. Until he knew for certain if she was the one for whom he was destined he would study her at his leisure and learn if she was truly as good as her name, this child of his two most hated enemies...this curious girl who went by the name of Silver Saotome...

Continuum # 85249731 (Scary Bet Series, by Gregg Sharp)

Cinnamon Saotome -Son of Herb and Ranma, Prince of the Musk Empire Nutmeg Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Concubine

"Well, my lord," Nutmeg mused as she scanned the far horizons, "We are returned home, no worse for our travels."

"Far better, I think," Cinnamon replied as he scanned the surrounding terrain where they found themselves on a high hill with an unfamiliar skyline, "You are healed and restored to my side, and see where we have found ourselves unexpectedly."

"Indeed," Nutmeg said, "Where is this place...this unfamiliar country?"

"I believe that I know exactly where we are," Cinnamon smiled, "It is in my memories...those experiences we shared with our brothers and sisters during our mind linkage. This is the countryside of the nation known as Japan, and we are on the outskirts of the major suburban portion of their largest city of Tokyo...a prefecture known simply as Nerima."

"Nerima?" Nutmeg blinked, "Is this not the homeland of our father?"

"Yours anyway," Cinnamon smiled ironically, "Your father, my mother, same difference."

"That is how father would put it," Nutmeg smiled, "So...what do we do here?"

"That is a very good question," Cinnamon replied, "Perhaps we should explore it at our leisure. It will be a long while before my father's agents discover our whereabouts, and it will take them even longer to figure out how we escaped their reach to arrive here. My sister...my love...I believe a bright and glorious new future awaits us."

"Any future at your side is bright and glorious to me, my love," Nutmeg replied, and together they held hands as the started out on the trail leading towards the distant city...

Temporal Nexus (Timecop/Lord Calvin of Otherwhen)  
Time Patrol HQ

Ranma Saotome -Time Cop, Master of the Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu, Avatar of Shiva Nabiki Saotome -Time Cop Dispatcher, Lore Master, Wife and Partner to Ranma Ryoga Hibiki -Time Cop, Ranma's main Partner, Avatar of Vishnu Akari Hibiki -Wife of Ryoga, Trainer of Sumo Pigs Ryonami -Time Patrol Dispatcher, Assistant and best friend to Nabiki

"Tadaima!" Ranma called out, "We're home, Mom, did you miss us?"

"Very funny, Saotome," Windsor sniffed, "I take it you people did what you had to do?"

"But of course," Nabiki replied, "Would we even be here for you to ask that question if we hadn't completed out mission?"

"So, how did you pull this one off, Boss?" Ryonami asked.

"Who cares," Akari grinned as she all but tackled her husband, "What matters is that you're back, Ryoga-honey! Now, if you've got any time off, there's this school play that I was hoping to drag you off to see..."

"You mean..." Ryoga blinked, "Junko got the part?"

"Well yeah," Akari pressed a finger to his nose, "And if you called home from work more often, you'd find that out for yourself. She's expecting us both to be on time for once, and I'm making sure you don't get lost watching the first High School performance of one of our offspring, you sexy little piglet you."

"Ah..." Ryoga got that slightly sheepish look in his eyes that he often has when his wife came onto him in such an affectionate manner, but he recovered enough to say, "Try holding me back! I know how hard Junko's been working to get this part...ah...what play is it again?"

"Romeo and Juliet, of course," Akari replied, "I understand it's a favorite at your old Alma Matter."

"Gee, that sounds familiar," Ranma remarked with a smirk.

"Only I believe they called it Ranma and Juliet when you performed it," Nabiki teased sweetly.

"I didn't...ah...actually attend classes at Furinkan..." Ryoga temporized, "I just sort of...went there...and not strictly by choice..."

"I cold have told you that from your transcripts, Hibiki," Windsor remarked with a sniff, "By the way, where's Ranko gotten off to?"

"Huh?" Ranma looked around, "Hey! That's a pretty damned good question, what?"

"She had some unfinished business that she said needed tending to," Nabiki replied, "In spite of some personal qualms...I decided to give her my blessing. She is developing better control over the pendant, I've noticed."

"Pendant?" Ryoga blinked, then reached into his jacket, "That reminds me...look what I took off that Muhoshin creep when I killed him."

"What?" Windsor reacted, "He's dead...again?"

"Hey, you know how it is with some bad guys," Ranma shrugged, "They don't have sense enough to stay dead."

"Here it is," Ryoga held the pendant up, "It's identical to the one that Ranko wears...think it could be the same thing?"

"I would say more definitely," Nabiki said, "But...in this case I fear that it is an example of now you see it, and now you don't."

"Huh?" Ryoga said, "What are you talking...huh?" he gasped as the pendant vanished from his hand.

"Another after image?" Ranma asked, eyeing Nabiki.

"What else?" Nabiki sighed, "The pendant is very good at covering its trail, but in this case I believe it took advantage of being freed from Muhoshin's evil influence to throw itself back in time to the place where Yggdrasil calculated it was needed."

"And that is?" Windsor asked.

"I couldn't really say," Nabiki sighed, "But somehow it wound up in the Amazon village of Jusenkyo, where it would eventually be given to Ranma's grandson on that timeline, Hibiki Akira, who in turn passed it along to our Ranko, who appears to have become its semi-permanent owner."

"I don't like that semi-permanent talk, Nabs," Ranma cautioned, "And I'm having trouble enough just coping with the idea that a daughter of mine married a son of Ryoga's."

"Well, how do you think I feel about that?" Ryoga responded, "And besides, you were the one who seemed to have an awful lot of kids with questionable backgrounds..."

"Oh yeah?" Ryonami asked, "Do tell?"

"Like who, Ryoga-kun?" Akari asked.

"Well, for one example," Nabiki smiled, "There was a certain fellow who claimed to be the son of the Musk Prince named Herb...and he seemed to imply that you, Ranma-kun, was the mother."

"URK!" Ranma winced.

"His...mother?" Ryonami's eyes got very wide, "Oh my!"

"That's not all," Ryoga smirked, "Remember that other guy who called himself Kuno Touga?"

"AWK!" Ranma winced, "Don't even joke about that! Me and...KUNO?"

"And that's not all," Nabiki grinned wickedly, "There was even a girl named Onnama who could claim you both for her parents."

"AIIIII!" both Ranma and Ryoga said together.

"Wow, Ranma-kun," Ryonami said, "I always knew you were a stud, but I'd forgotten you were also such a hotie!"

"Yeah," Akari agreed, "Imagine being the proud mother of three beautiful young children..."

"Somebody shoot me," Ranma covered his eyes with a hand.

"Don't give me any ideas, Saotome," Windsor growled, "I might call it a mercy killing."

"Sorry Chief," Nabiki took Ranma by the leather-jacketed arm and said, "I've got other plans for my husband, now that we've saved the day again and yadda, yadda."

"Huh?" Ranma said, "What's up?"

"I know exactly where Ranko is going to wind up," Nabiki replied, "And I think we should get there ahead of her, just so we can pick off where we left off with our vacation."

"Vacation?" Ranma blinked, then with a slight hint of dismay he said, "You don't mean...?"

"A-hah," the Lore Master smiled sweetly, "And besides...I'm going to pay you back for calling me Nabs, and I can't think of a better place to do it, can you?"

"Help..." Ranma whimpered, though from his tone and smile it was obvious that he was not planning to fight his fate with any great effort...

Continuum #29457180 (Knights and Warriors)

Watazashi Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Kodachi, Anything Goes Gymnastics Yuan-Yen Tendo -Daughter of Mousse and Nabiki, Watazashi's Partner Ranko Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Akane, Apprenticed Time Cop, Holder of the Pendant, "Heart of Destiny"  
Silver Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Anything Goes Ryu Kachima Tendo -Daughter of Ranma and Nabiki, Lore Master in Training.  
Tenma Saotome -Son of Ranma and Kasumi, Jedi Knight Bonbon Toru -Daughter of Tofu and Shampoo, Force Master Onnama Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Ryoga

"Here we are, home sweet home at last," Watazashi mused, "Would you like to stay and chat a bit? Yuan-chan and I would not mind a little company if it means getting to know you all better."

"Thanks," Ranko said, "Maybe another time I'll take you up on it, like the next time I come around looking you guys up."

"Hopefully not too soon," Yuan-chan mused as she took possessive hold of Watazashi's arm, "But you guys are always welcome."

"We thank you," Tenma replied, "I am sure that your hospitality will be worthy of the name of Kuno."

"For good or ill," Bonbon noted slyly, "The manor still resonates with the dark emanations of its previous occupant."

"We never talk about him, of course," Tenma added, "Nor do we like to remind Aunt Kodachi of the tragedy that befell her brother when he turned to the Dark side."

"Sounds creepy," Onnama remarked, "You guys really are like something out of Star Wars."

"No fooling," Silver snorted.

"Now then, be nice," Kachima chided, "Our next stop is your world, Brother Tenma, or...you could come along with us to our next destination beyond that...what did you call this place again, Ranko-chan?"

"The House of the Miroku," Ranko smiled, "Silver and me got a date to settle things there and I plan on following through with my promise for a pay back."

"Hah, keep on dreaming," Silver smiled, "Like you could ever get the better of me in a straight match."

"The House of the Miroku?" Yuan-Yen arched an eyebrow, "I think we'll pass this time around."

"Such a pity," Watazashi mused, "We had such interesting times there during our two previous visits."

"The House of the Miroku?" Bonbon asked with raised eyebrows.

"Isn't that the name of a reclusive band of Ninja who are only heard about in legend?" Tenma asked.

"Oh, they're real enough at that, let me tell you," Ranko replied, "Let no place else I've ever been..."

"That's for sure," Silver looked towards their brother and sister, "Why don't you guys come along? You won't regret it, not unless you're prudish."

"I confess that I find myself intrigued by the very sound of this place," Kachima mused, "How soon do we leave?"

"Right away," Ranko turned to Tenma and said, "You game for a brief stay?"

"Why not?" Tenma smiled, "It does sound intriguing."

"Oh, it is that," Watazashi assured, "I'm sure you and your lovely fianc e will have good times during your stay there."

"Matter of fact, I'd bank on it," Yuan-Yen smirked.

Ranko grinned mischievously as she concentrated on the site of two previous orgiastic visits and the pendant responded to her will and opened the way to their destination, where much promised mischief would shortly be engaged, much to the surprise of the Jedi Knight and his Force Mistress iinazuke...

Continuum # 87219654 (Ill Met by Starlight)  
Blue Area, Luna

Ranma Saotome -The Evil incarnation of Ranma, driven insane by the Nekoken

His name, though his very existence was known to but a few, was Uatu, the Watcher, who stood a lonely vigil in the silence of what the Terrans of Earth would call "The Sea of Tranquility," were any now living on the devastated blue planet. He could easily recall a time when the Blue Area had been a thriving lunar metropolis, back during what humans had called the "Silver Millennium," now ashes and dust due to the folly of mortals and the evil intentions of denizens of the Dark Kingdom. Though ageless beyond measure, his eyes could see farther and more clearly than the eyes of any mere mortal, and of late he had watched a tragedy unfold without so much as a tear being shed, much though these events had filled him with great sadness.

He had watched everything transpire from the moment that the renegade guardian, Karadon, had selected this world for his base of operations and engineered the arrival of the fragment of the Dark Star known as Nemesis to bring a tragic end to all life upon the Earth. Only a mere handful of lives had been spared, and those saved to be employed callously as pawns in a game of Multiversal destruction. Had his purpose been successful then it was doubtful that even a Watcher could have survived the resulting explosion and collapse of the timestream. As it was, the favorable conclusion to these affairs had guaranteed that the Multiverse would continue, even if the planet Earth remained a graveyard devoid of its once rich potential.

"Enjoying yourself?" a voice asked at his side.

Uatu evidenced no surprise, nor did he feel the least bit of dismay that the presence he now felt at his side could have approached him without warning. Instead he spoke matter-of-factly, "Your plans succeeded without a flaw, Lord Derek. What now do you intend?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Derek replied, "Karadon is no more, but his handiwork remains. I am here to see that changes."

"You mean to undo what he has done?" Uatu asked curiously, knowing full well that such a thing was easily within the scope of the Guardian's power, and-  
unlike a member of the race known as the Watcher-he was bound by no restraining policy of non-intervention.

"No," Derek replied, "What I have in mind is even better."

There was hardly any sense of transition at first, but as Uatu stared he saw and felt the Universe around him alter, and then with a rapidity that would have amazed even one who had seen the birth and death of stars the entire framework of the timefield rippled, and when the moment passed the Earth was once again a vibrant and teeming world of possibilities.

"The mortals of that world say that it was created in six days," Derek mused matter-of-factly, "It only took six seconds for me to recreate it."

"Impressive," Uatu scanned the blue planet that had become a source of infinite fascination to him of late, "All is as it was before your brother's intervention...all save for one distinctive element..."

"I know," Derek said as he glanced down at the ground before them, and there lay the motionless body that appeared without warning, "And here it is...Saotome. Mind you, this is a defective model, but I think I may still be able to salvage something from this ruined waste matter. After all, every reality needs its Temporal Nexus to be alive and functioning in a reasonably stable manner."

The still form of Ranma shimmered and disappeared once again, then Derek turned his focus to the Earth and said, "There...I've changed the sequence of events that drove this Ranma insane. Now things will proceed as they were meant to, while you stand back and observe the resulting changes."

"I see," Uatu remarked, "And what do you expect to result from this?"

"I don't know," Derek replied, "And that's what makes it so exciting..."

Continuum #60429318 (Master of Mosquiton)

Carmine Hitomabori -Daughter of Mosquiton and Inaho, Vampyr Efreet Mizuhara -Adopted Daughter of Makoto and Ifurita, Demon-Goddess Ryoma Saotome -Son of Ranma and Ukyo, Master of Anything Goes Cooking Minos Taro -Son of Pantsaru Taro and Kasumi, Shotokan Karate Ryu Tarot Kenzan -Daughter of Konatsu and Shampoo, Apprenticed Witch Tachi Kuno -Son of Tatewaki and Nabiki, Nampo Kendo Ryu

"Well," Ryoma remarked, "It ain't so bad when you think about it. I mean...we're back home in our own dimension, and everything seems pretty much like it was when we left."

"I suppose that is one way of looking at matters, true," Tachi replied, "But still...I can't exactly blame our teacher to refusing to accept our explanation for our unexcused absence."

"So we all wind up in detention," Minos grumbled, "And how are we gonna explain this to our parents?"

"I'm not sure that we actually should," Tarot replied, "Better far to go with the flow and avoid the needless complications of relating our tale of adventure."

"Makes sense to me," Carmine replied as she studied the insides of the detention room, "Of course you guys could have given me more warning about the sort of soul-sucking creature you've got for a principal."

"Yeah," Efreet said, "What's that deal with her and the coin trick she used?"

"Beats me," Ryoma replied, "She's been able to do it for as long as I've known her. She married a guy named Tendo Soun and he's about the only one she won't drain when she gets angry. You guys need to watch what you say around her or you could wind up like that Senzenen guy when he lipped off about her weight..."

"Oh yeah," Tachi sighed, "Poor guy. They could roll him up and use him for calligraphy."

"Good thing her drainings only last a few minutes at worst," Tarot observed, "Of course it doesn't hurt to have a few defensive spells on hand to block her attacks. Our advice to you is...never manifest a battle aura while in her presence."

"Thanks," Carmine said sourly, "I'll try and keep that in mind the next time."

"I'll have to study her technique some time," Efreet remarked, "A thing like that could come in useful."

"I'm still wondering about what happened to us back there," Tachi said, "One minute we're planting explosives trying to blow up some kind of death device, the next thing I know we're all sharing minds with one another and some people whom we've never even met before, and then we wind up on that ship sailing out somewhere near to the orbit of the moon, and then we're back in the school yard as if none of it ever really happened..."

"It happened," Minos said softly, "We were really there, it really all happened."

"Hmm?" Ryoma eyed the larger boy, "What's eating you? Are you still...thinking about your lady-friend?"

"Who else," Minos replied, "I ain't never gonna forget her, and I'll probably never set eyes on her again, which sucks more than you guys can even imagine."

"We feel for you, Minos-chan," Tarot replied, "But it may not be as hopeless as you imagine. We knew from the start that we would have to return to our own worlds and times, but she is still out there somewhere, no doubt missing you as much as you miss her, if not moreso. That is bound to create a line through time that may one day unite you both together."

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Kenzan," Minos sniffed, "But she's where she belongs, and I might as well face it. A gal like her wouldn't really fit in around here, and she's needed too much on her own world to rid them of the kind of scum that preys on other people."

"Just keep telling yourself that, buddy," Ryoma replied, "You might even start believing it before too long."

Minos was about to tell Ryoma to kiss off when a commotion near the door drew their attention, and in stepped an out-of-breath girl whose lone pale hair was done up in a pony tail. She was reasonably tall and very good looking, and she had a warm and outgoing smile as she said, "Oh...pardon me, is this the detention room? I'm new here and I got lost looking for directions.

"Who the heck are you?" Carmine asked, surprised at the girl's close resemblance to a certain lady of the Northstar Ryu.

"Oh, pardon me, my manners aren't the best, I'm afraid," the ice blonde girl bowed, "My name is Shiro...Wanda Shiro, and I'm a new student here."

"Wanda...?" Tachi repeated.

"Shiro?" Ryoma seconded.

"Ah..." Carmine hesitated before asking, "Pardon me for asking...but are you related to a guy named Kenshiro?"

"Oh, you mean my Uncle?" the girl replied as she found a seat at a desk, "He maintains a shrine in the mountains and he's a bit of a hermit..."

"Who's your dad?" Efreet asked more directly.

"Oh," the girl said, "My father's name is Shiro Rao, my mother's name is Aila. Why, do you know them?"

"Wow," Ryoma exclaimed, "Talk about your weird coincidences. Hey Minos, doesn't she look a lot like...ah? Minos? You hearing me, old buddy?"

Minos did not answer, he just stared with his mouth hanging open. The girl was no where near as tall as the woman he mentally compared her to, but the resemblance was uncanny, and when the girl smiled at him it felt as though the clouds around his heart were thinning, and the light in her eyes was causing his brain to experience a temporary neurological meltdown.

"I think he agrees with you, Ryo-chan," Tarot observed in a rather tongue-in-  
cheek manner, "In any event, I'd say the future was looking a lot brighter all of a sudden..."

Continuum #92684713 (Fist of the Northstar)

Wanda Kenshiro -Daughter of Ranma and Aila, the Fist of the Northstar Minx Tendo -Daughter of Akane and Gymp, a Gremlin

It had been months since they parted ways, time enough to discover the changes in her body as Wanda roamed the land to fulfil her peculiar destiny, discovering as she went her way that her experiences in her trip through time had effected a lasting change that would bear fruit in further time, and that in turn caused her to curb her wanderings as she sought a nest in which to have her baby.

The valley she chose was the very one in which she had first met the man who changed her life, now green and lush with the promise of new life and bountiful harvests. How fitting a place to bring continuity to her line, in a place where her man was honored and revered as one of the Messengers of the Gods come to deliver forgiveness to a suffering people. The changes and fertility brought to the soil was nothing short of amazing, and it tended to attract immigration so that what had been a mere villa on the edge of extinction now flourished as a thriving metropolis with a population that now numbered in the thousands.

Of course with the rise of wealth and happiness in the valley, the wrong sort of element was also attracted, and they needed protection to insure that such wild elements remained relatively honest. Word that the valley was under her protection had tended to curb the sort of criminal behavior that had brought her wrath to town in the first place. Those few who persisted in doing evil never lasted very long, and all met a very harsh and final end at the hands of her fists. Now few dared risk the wrath of the Fist of the Northstar, and fewer still came near to the place where she had set up her camp near a cave in the nearby mountains.

At times like these she missed him terribly, and yet she knew he did not belong in her world, just as she did not belong in his. He had taught her how to live and enjoy life from their too-brief time together, and because of him she knew how to smile and take pleasure in the little things that used to seem so inconsequential. To date she had not met his like, but she knew that there was probably someone out there somewhere who could stir the kind of emotions within her that he had from the moment she had set eyes upon his handsome feature. His kindness had been inspirational, and his single act of love had been the key point in her life when she had learned to exhale and release the past, to move on and face the realities of a world that needed her, and the destiny she lived to protect it.

Of course she did not do this in complete isolation of all others, nor did she attempt to be the lonely hermit of before. She had allies and friends who could keep her company and give her a reason to fight (something else that she had learned from his example), among whom was the girl named Ilea, who had become her chief enthusiast in town and would often run minor errands for her in exchange for lessons in self defense and the arts of healing. The girl was quick and bright, absorbing knowledge like a sponge and keen to learn whatever Wanda would share with her, and in all likelihood she would grow to be a strong defender, a worthy successor to the Fist of the Northstar.

Of course Wanda also intended to pass her knowledge along to her child, and with that special bond that was forming between her and the new life growing within her she learned to care about all life, even those whom once would have earned her enmity. She only took a life now when convinced that her enemy was an irredeemable life taker.

And, of course, there was one other who made life a little more interesting, one who seemed to have relatively little difficulty traveling between one world and the other, going from the land of her birth to Wanda's world and back again almost with a will, a trick Wanda never could figure out for herself, though she had come to admire her friend's resourcefulness and valued her periodic companionship in her lonelier hours of seclusion.

It just at just such a time that she was reflecting upon this that she found a lithe form dropped onto her shoulders, another uncanny talent that Wanda still found perplexing as she would never allow an enemy to approach so close without warning. A pair of slender arms went around her neck and a pleasant voice chirruped into her ear, "Minx back, you miss Minx, big stuff?"

"Terribly," Wanda replied, even though it had only been a week since the rainbow-haired gremlin's last visit, "Are you well, little one?"

"Minx do well," the smaller woman responded, "Big Muck-Muck make big plans, very sneaky, make new type army, make school teach neat stuff, make books and weapons."

"The sword and the book," Wanda mused, "How very much like my brother, Touga."

"Minx think he mean well, but no like boom stuff," she sniffed, "Who needs new ways kill people? Minx rather spend time with Big stuff, make new life together."

"I can understand your reasoning in this," Wanda replied, then found the smaller girl had curled around her body and was now nestled firmly on her lap, pressing her head against Wanda's bulging stomach.

"Hmmm..." Minx purred in an almost cat-like manner, "Small thing much bigger than Minx remember, grow maybe even bigger than Big Stuff. Minx like hear baby make coo-noise, Minx sing to baby, help baby grow smart."

Wanda's smile intensified as she reached down with a large hand and ran her fingers through the wild mop-like hair of the curious hybrid who had become her closest companion.

"When my child is born, I could use your friendship," she rumbled, "My baby will grow stronger from knowing that she is loved and cared for."

Minx turned her curious eyes (whose colors were as changeable as her moods) and said, "Big Stuff want hear story? Minx tell so baby know what love is. Minx know that mother long ago was warrior, like Samurai, serve father-mother of Big Muck-Much. One day she go to bad place in hills, meet Minx father, come back with Minx-baby. Big fuss, much bad stuff happen, Muck-Muck father-mother die fighting Yoriko-mother, all fault of Poison Lady, Aunt of Muck-Muck. Yoriko-  
mother kill father of baby, give baby to father of Muck-Muck, raise sister to Muck-Muck in secret...but Minx know. Minx always know what no other want tell her."

"A highly useful talent," Wanda mused, translating from these words a complicated story of tragedy and intrigue that was in no way the fault of most of the principle players.

"Minx raised with Muck-Muck and sibs," the elfin girl continued, "Become good stalker and secret sniffer, help Muck-Muck keep ahead of bad people want hurt him. Minx look out for family, no let bad people hurt them. Minx learn it important care for sibs and loved ones, Minx honor and protect, just like Minx see no bad thing happen to Big Stuff or baby. Caring what life about, no care and life empty."

"You are wise indeed, my friend," Wanda replied, "It is plain to me that you were loved and cared for regardless of the circumstances of your birth. But I wonder...what manner of creature was your father?"

"Minx wonder same thing once," Minx replied, "Then Minx meet father. Minx think he call himself Gremlin, but not know what that mean."

Wanda lifted a pale eyebrow, "I believe the word describes a type of creature who is attracted to objects of a technological nature...it is said that they once inhabited ships of the air and often caused great mischief."

"Ships fly in air?" Minx wrinkled her nose in a distinctive and curious manner, "Minx think she like see that. Maybe things get better and they make new ships?"

"I certainly hope this is so," Wanda mused, her mind filled with the memories of other worlds and times, all from places untouched by war and the devastation of her world, which prompted her next to say, "Perhaps someday we will ride in such a ship together."

She wondered about that curious feeling she had that suggested such a thing was not only possible but destined to happen, but decided for the moment to concentrate her efforts on more on things of an immediate and far more personal nature...

Continued?

Comments/Criticisms/Cubic Dimensional Warping: shadowmane

This concludes the maxi-series, "Realities Cubed," the third installment in the "REALITIES" series. I hope you have enjoyed this run, in spite of the fact that it has been (to put it in the lexicon of a movie production) overtime and over-  
budget. I had meant this to go on for around twenty-four chapters, but naturally some scenes required more expanded coverage, so I wrote them out to the full 29 chapter length that I am now concluding. I want to thank everyone who submitted ideas and suggestions in the writing of this production, and to apologize to those whose worthy ideas did not make it into this series. I know more than a few people out there will say that this expanded chapter was too much and far too ambitious, and I'm inclined to agree since I never intended to spend an entire month and a half working on it, not while I have so many other worthy projects that need doing.

I am not saying that I will never write another "Realities" series, but in the future I think I will attempt to be less ambitious and not indulge in such a "Can-You-Top-This" Mega-crisis. That is a mistake that certain Comic Book Companies (which shall go nameless) have indulged in to the ruin of their credibility, and since I'm not making any money on this, it is hardly what I'd call a commercially solvent program. I did this as a labor of love because I genuinely like these characters and wanted to explore their worlds without having to create a dozen different series for that option. I do still intend to do the Lemon "Hentai" chapters implied in this production, so this will not be the final end to the series, just a resting point where I catch my breath and go on to other projects.

Again I apologize if I have offended anyone in the course of my submissions. I missed a lot of good ideas and character concepts that could well be blended into a fourth series (should I elect to do one in the future). This program is ended now, however, and I do hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did setting down the ideas that inspired me to do the Realities "Trilogy," a series born of my genuine deep love of Anime Fanfiction, and the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi and so many others. If you have enjoyed my work, or want to complain about my "wasting your time" with these chapters, feel free to write me and offer your comments. I will try to respond in kind at my earliest convenience.

And now adieu...parting is such sweet sorrow and all of that, but it's past one in the morning out here in California and I need to get on the net to see what people have already written to me. Be seeing you again (I hope) in the very near future!

Jim R. Bader

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . or it's mirror site at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	31. Chapter 31

RanCubedSS1

Realities Cubed (Side-Story One)

By Jim R Bader

1.

(WARNING-NON-HENTAI SECTION! THE FOLLOWING SCENE INVOLVES WEIGHTY COMMENTARY THAT WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE EPILOGUE AT THE END OF THE "REALITIES CUBED" SERIES. IF YOU ARE EXPECTING TO READ A LEMON SECTION AT THIS POINT, YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED!  
BETTER FORWARD ON AHEAD TO THE SECOND PART OF THIS CHAPTER WHERE YOU WILL SEE LEMON-YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)

Continuum # 472193567(Inspired by "Purple Haired Destiny," by Ryan Anderson)

Rinse Saotome -Daughter of Shampoo and Ranma, heir to the Anything Goes Ryu Yinra Saotome -Daughter of Akane and Ranma, younger sister to Rinse Yangra Saotome -Son of Akane and Ranma, twin brother to Yinra Tachi Kuno -Daughter of Nabiki and Tatewaki, Kendo Master Ryeka Masaki -Daughter of Ayeka and Ryoko, half Juraian Princess Atari Moroboshi -Daughter of Lum and Ataru, Princess of the Oni Ryoukio Hibiki -Son of Ukyo and Ryoga, heir to the Kuonji School of Okonomiyaki Brand Tendo -Son of Kurumi and Mousse, Hidden Weapons Master Ivory Kuno -Daughter of Kodachi and Mousse, Rhythmic Gymnastics

"Here you go, guys," Ranko announced, "The pendant brought us here to your home plane. Sure you want to go back to the madhouse when the rest of us are paying our respects to the Miroku?"

"Yeah, well..." Rinse winced, "Don't get me wrong, the Miroku are nice people, but I think I had my fill of that the last time we stopped in there..."

"You mean you had your filling in all three openings," Tachi mused, "And me too for that matter."

"Yeah," Rinse agreed, "But if we stopped by there and the other guys ever got wind that we did it without them..."

"Hmm...good point," Tachi agreed, "We have enough trouble keeping the lid on things as it is, so why borrow trouble?"

"You two do have your work cut out for you," Watazashi mused, "But I think I sense great love and affection behind your protestations of being beset by too many lovers."

"Maybe," Rinse said, "But I've made a commitment, and it's about time I stood by my word and honored my pledges. It won't be easy, but I do honestly care about everybody, and with Tachi's help we may still be able to pull it off..."

"Your confidence in me is flattering, Rin-chan," Tachi smiled, "I hope that I will be able to fulfill my obligations as your co-fianc e."

"Does this one understand you correctly?" Bonbon asked, "You have accepted multiple engagements to share a marriage with two men and two other women?"

"Unconventional to say the least," Tenma noted.

"Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you on that," mused Silver.

"You could put it that way," Tachi replied, "When I left off I had managed to calm everyone down and was actually getting them to behave like reasonably intelligent people. Our prospective mates and family ties were a task by themselves, but one could almost expect them to behave in a childish and impulsive manner. What is somewhat more disheartening is the way that the adults were behaving, our supposed role models and the authors of so much mischief that has carried over into our generation."

"I can well imagine that you had your work cut out for you, my sister," Kachima mused.

"You could put it that way," Tachi said with tongue-in-cheek humor, "I did my best, and after almost three hours of haggling, cajoling and outright horse trading I finally got them to agree to seating arrangements at the after-wedding reception."

"That bad, huh?" Onnama noted.

"The Hatfields and the McCoys were a social club when contrasted with the Masakis, Morobishis, Saotomes, Kunos and the Tendos," Tachi responded.

"That's bad," Yuan-Yen remarked, "I don't even know half those people and it sounds like they could be real trouble."

"Well, considering that we are talking about aliens, rival galactic powers, and three families who have a lot of pride and some pretty deep-seated traditions going back a hundred years or more, I'd say that counts as enough potential to make a major powder keg," Tachi explained, "It takes a shrewd negotiator to keep their egos in line and head off a major feud that has the potential of exploding into a war that could turn the Earth itself into a cinder."

"Oh please!" Rinse rolled her eyes, "If there's anybody alive who could work things out, it's you, Tachi. This humble act you put on sometimes is about as convincing as me trying to pretend to be a Rocket Scientist."

"You're selling yourself short again, my love," Tachi smiled, "But I thank you for the compliment."

"Says the girl who single-handedly saved the whole planet from the Psion Galactic invasion?" Rinse countered.

"Say what?" Ranko asked.

"Indeed?" Kachima arched and eyebrow.

"Curious," said Tenma as he eyed the shorthaired daughter of the house of Kuno.

"Now this I've gotta hear," Yuan-Yen grinned broadly.

"Actually, Rin-chan exaggerates a bit," Tachi explained, "All I did was speak a few words in the right ears and set a few things in motion."

"Those 'some things' must have been quite significant," Watazashi mused, "If your negotiating skills are anything like my Yuan-chan."

"No offense, but your girlfriend is no where close to being as sneaky and conniving as my cousin," Rinse said with a frank expression, "Get this...as you may or may not know, Earth is located in a pretty remote spot far removed from most of the intelligent civilizations that are out there dominating the cosmos..."

"Actually," Tachi explained, "This arm of the Milky Way Galaxy is considered rather unimportant and out-of-the-way as things are reckoned among the major star-faring powers. The Earth was once an outpost near the center of distant far-flung empire that collapsed thousands of years ago during something called the Silver Millennium, and before that the almost forgotten Empire of Atlantis. With their fall other humanoid races gradually rose to prominence and incorporated the Earth in their territorial sphere. One group, the Jurai, even seeded a colony here on the Island of Japan, while the Oni often contended with them for control over this whole sector. Eventually they and other interested groups co-signed a treaty rendering the Earth as a protected world and then allowed the native population...meaning us, to go on about our ways in relative isolation, leaving us fat, dumb and ignorant about the goings on taking place on other planets."

"Yeah," Rinse said, "The most any Earth government here will admit to is swamp gas and weather balloons. They don't want anyone on Earth to know that we're constantly being visited by alien tourists, or that this group called the MIB keeps track of the alien population sharing space on this planet."

"You mean all that stuff about Alien visitations, Roswell and Area 51 are true?" Onnama asked.

"Well duh," said Silver, "Even I know that!"

"And to think of those poor souls in the scientific community hobbling along in ignorance of the intelligent life that is out there," Watazashi mused.

"Yeah," Rinse replied, "And the Eggheads here haven't even got a clue because nobody in the know will tell them that nobody out there has even used Electromagnetism for their communications in at least a thousand years. They keep expecting first contact to come at the end of a phone line."

"Not to sell them short," Tachi replied, "But far too many intelligent people are too easily deceived by their own skepticism and intelligence. They ask the wrong questions and avoid looking in the right places for the answers. The take the absence of definite proof as the proof of definite absence, little realizing that there are agencies on the Earth that prefer to keep us dumb and ignorant by eliminating that evidence before it becomes too much public knowledge. Why else do you suppose the Americans cut back on their space program in the late sixties, or why even today there is no colony on the moon or Mars when ambitious planned exploration could have relieved so many of the current stresses facing our planet?"

"I don't like what you're suggesting about us being kept ignorant," Yuan-Yen remarked, "It makes us sound like we're all collectively being kept on the end of a very short leash."

"You guys got no idea," Onnama shook her crimson head in amusement, "It ain't just stuff out there that they're covering up...there's plenty of stuff right here on our planet, or in other dimensions, that nobody talks about because nobody who's in the know wants to."

"So what exactly is it that you did that saved the planet?" Tenma asked directly.

"Weeeell," Tachi drawled, "As I said, Earth is claimed by about a dozen different Empires, chief among them are the Jurai and the Oni. Both have tried to press their claims off and on but they've always backed off due to their mutual neutrality agreement. Another group, however, are the Psions, a race of reptilian beings-methane breathers at that-who consider humans to be little more than semi-intelligent monkeys (and you can make your own minds up what that implies about what they think of the Jurai and the Oni). They don't respect any agreements or treaties and are purely interested in scientific research. Like the Streiber Aliens that they often get compared to they like to snatch up denizens of our world and use us for experiments the same way that we might use any lab animal for the field testing of new products. The Psions decided that humans could best serve their needs by being conscripted as slave labor, and so they drafted plans for an invasion in which they could kidnap citizens en-mass and cart them back across the borders of their world before any of the other powers were any the wiser."

"They sound like a very cold blooded and particularly vicious group," Bonbon remarked, "Much like my mother's stories of the Sith Lord that Tenma's parents defeated."

"Yeah, but lucky for us, we've got connections in high places," Rinse replied, "One of our Aunts, who works in the Goddess Relief Office, got wind of the scheme and found a way to filter the news through channels that eventually resulted in our Aunt Washu finding out what they were up to."

"Goddess relief office?" Onnama blinked.

"Long story," Tachi replied, "Anyway, it became rapidly apparent that these Psions had chosen their moment well. The Jurai were currently involved in some delicate negotiations with the Shi'ar and could hardly spare the time the time or energy to send ships to defend the protected region. The Oni meanwhile were locked in a minor skirmish with one of their neighbors and didn't think they could spare the effort it would take to start a second front going to war with the Psions. In effect the Earth was isolated and on its own, vulnerable to a highly advanced invading armada that was intent on kidnapping our citizens and transporting them as slaves to work on various otherworldly projects."

"So what did you do?" Ranko asked.

"You mean what did Tachi do to straighten things out," Rinse nodded to her cousin, "She talked to Aunt Washu, and then they put in a few calls to the right parties. First she approached Aunt Ayeka and asked if the Jurai would do anything, and when the Princess explained how she had pleaded in vain with her father, Tachi then said something that changed the whole equation."

"You're exaggerating again, Rin-chan," Tachi shrugged, "I merely informed the Princess that this was the very thing we had been told to expect from the Oni."

"The Oni?" Watazashi arched an eyebrow.

"You know," Rinse smirked, "Like Atari...green haired, highly advanced, a bit on the obnoxious side, like to blow holes through people who tick them off, or-In my case-hurl bolts of lightning?"

"Indeed," Tachi replied matter-of-factly, "I told Aunt Ayeka that Atari's Mom, the Princess Lum, had voiced the opinion that the Jurai were too complacent, decadent and lazy to bestir themselves to the effort of protecting their own borders."

"Oh my," Yuan-Yen raised her eyebrows, "And let me guess...you also put in a personal attack against the royal family, right?"

"Great minds do think alike," Kachima smiled rather sweetly.

"Are you kidding?" Rinse replied, "I had my jaw on the floor when I heard her imply that Emperor Azusa was a womanizing lout and the product of inbreeding, and that the reason Empress Misaki had such a wide bottom was from sitting on her ass all day giving head to her co-wife, Lady Funaho. She didn't say it like that, of course...not like I'd have put it anyway..."

"Bluntness of speech always was a drawback with you, Rin-chan," Tachi chided.

"Yeah, well my head spins sometimes trying to keep up with you, y'know," Rinse resumed, "The way you told it, you were just an innocent bystander repeating what she'd heard from Atari. I can still remember the way Aunt Ayeka's eyebrow twitched when she heard you say that, and how polite she was in asking us to excuse her so she could place a personal call through Aunt Washu's special hotline to tell her Dad what you had told her. The next thing you know the whole Juraian fleet is on the move and ready to go to war with the Oni on nothing more than the rumors you planted."

"I don't understand something," Onnama said, "If it was the Psions who were the bad guys, why did you pit these Jurai against the Oni?"

"Too obvious," Tachi explained, "If I had attributed those comments to the Psions it would have been seen as a ploy to win sympathy from the Jurai, and such a thing would have earned Emperor Azusa's indifference. Placing the blame with the Oni just inflamed already existing resentments by playing on their mutual prejudice and suspicion, so, while this was going on, I then paid a visit to Atari's house and made a few similar such comments within the presence of her mother."

"And that got the Oni riled up with the Jurai, huh?" Yuan-Yen grinned, "Clever."

"It is?" Silver marveled.

"Work with me, Sis," Rinse replied, "The problem with the Oni is that they're technologically advanced, but individually they can be more than a little stupid. They're known as fierce warriors and great fighters, but talk about na ve? You could sell these guys air conditioning in a windstorm! A standard joke I've heard the Jurai use is that the only thing that Oni are good at with building ships is blowing them up before they even see combat. On the battlefield they get all knotted up and disorganized, which is why they don't dominate a much bigger section of the galaxy, and they missed a chance to take over the Earth by playing a game of Tag with an Earther."

"Precisely true," Tachi replied, "And in truth their war with their neighbors was not going well...right up until the rumors I planted began to circulate among their ranks. Suddenly each individual solder went from a muddled and confused cog in the cluttered war machinery of their leaders into a battle-  
enraged and vengeful horde of berserkers ready to tear their way through anything that stood between them and avenging their honor. They won their battle, then hurried off to the Solar System just in time to meet the Juraian fleet as they assembled, and the two sides then began a slow process of jockeying for position as they prepared to go to war. That was when the Psions showed up and found themselves suddenly faced with almost the total combined fleet of both Empires, and as you could well imagine, they found that a little daunting."

"So what happened?" Tenma asked.

"Well, by itself, nothing probably would have happened," Tachi shrugged, "But one of the Psion ships suddenly attacked the fleet without orders. It seems a nervous gunner shot off a few missiles that did no actual damage, bouncing harmlessly off of a Juraian ship's defensive screens, but that was enough to light the powder keg and get the Jurai and Oni riled against them. The Oni like to fight and the Jurai are a very proud-read stuck-up-people, and the one thing they can't stand is someone interfering in a private war that the both of them were waging. Needless to say, they turned all guns on the Psions and within the space of an hour had reduced the invading armada into so much ground up space dust."

"Mighty foolish of them to attack," Watazashi smiled knowingly, "If it truly was an accident."

"Of course it was an accident," Rinse smiled, "Aunt Washu made sure of it. She's real good at hacking into almost any alien computer system."

"I see," Kachima mused, "Very clever that, worthy even of our mother's brilliance."

"You gave them a mutual target to distract them from each other," Yuan-Yen grinned.

"In other words," Tenma agreed, "You blinded them with Psions." He blinked his eyes as everyone did a face-fault then said, "Oh my...was it something I said?"

"Cute guy," Silver sniffed, "I never even saw that one coming."

"So what happened after they finished off the Psions?" Bonbon asked with genuine interest.

"Well," Tachi smiled, "Aunt Washu and I worked out a program we called the 'Peace and Friendship Protocols. Loosely put, they were designed to defuse a secondary crisis by spreading the word among the fleet that the Emperor of Jurai and the King of the Oni were now ready to meet and celebrate their joint victories, having put an end to the lies and slanders circulated by the Psions in a futile attempt to confuse and divide potential allies who might stand against their evil ambitions."

"In other words you lied like hell," Silver smirked, "Did it work?"

"What do you think?" Rinse smiled, "In case you didn't notice, the planet's still here."

"The Oni, as Rin-chan has already explained, do tend to be a bit gullible," Tachi smiled, "As for the Jurai...well, they were flush with victory, and the one thing that Emperor Azusa never could resist was an offer of a drink, so...the two fathers got to talking until neither one of them was in a state of mind to know which end of the Galactic hub is up, leaving their wives to settle out the details like properly civilized people."

"And of course they recognized that you had something to do with their turn of good fortune," Rinse added, "Not that Lady Funaho seemed to mind the good turn you had done for their daughter."

"But won't they be, y'know, kinda upset with you if they find out that you and this Washu character were behind all those insults?" Onnama asked.

"Not really," Kachima replied, "Anyone intelligent enough to figure that out will no doubt want the party responsible to be recruited for their side."

"Lady Funaho is an exceptionally astute and intelligent being," Tachi replied, "She not only recognizes talent but perceives the wisdom in remaining silent about some of her knowledge."

"Heh, sounds like you won a place in their hearts even before this arranged marriage business," Silver smirked, "So...what made you finally decide to go for the group thing? Was it the sex you were after?"

"There are a lot of reasons why I wish to be joined with Rinse and the others," Tachi replied, "Not the least is that I honestly believe that we can make the best of this arrangement. I've watched Rin-chan muddle through as best she could, but without my guidance she will probably make a mess of things, for all her good intentions. I know how strong Ryeka's bond with her has grown, and Atari has become no less attached, even as we both have young men with whom we feel a strong attraction. Rather than favor one tie over another, we will pledge ourselves to the joint unison of a marriage circle...a sacred band where each is tied in fate to the other, and all are stronger for the union."

"Well said indeed," Watazashi nodded, "I wish you well in your chosen endeavor...Sisters."

"And you in your own, Sis," Rinse smiled, then sighed, "C'mon, Tachi...time to face the music. We'd better not let the others see us with this bunch or I guarantee that there will trouble."

"I dare say you're right," Tachi smiled, "Be seeing you around, my Sisters."

"Hey, take care, guys," Ranko waved the point away as she and the rest of her entourage faded away from this particular plane of existence.

"Great guys," Rinse said, "Hope we see them again...but not too soon."

"True," Tachi replied, turning to glance the other way, "But I'd say they left just in the nick of time. Looks like our well-wishers have finally caught up with us."

"Vacation time's over," Rinse smiled, as she saw a pair of flying forms come sailing at her-one with blue hair, the other green-even as the rest of the more terrestrial-bound members of their extended families came following in short over, "But you know something-and don't quote me on this, or I'll spank you-I wouldn't have it any other way...would you?"

"What do you think?" Tachi smiled, holding Rinse by the hand as they braced to meet the rush together...

(HENTAI ALERT: ADULT SUBJECT MATTER!  
THIS IS THE SECTION YOU NO DOUBT WERE EXPECTING TO READ, SO IF YOU ARE IN SEARCH OF A LEMON, THIS IS THE PART TO DELVE INTO!  
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)

2.

Continuum #57821964 (La Blue Ukyo, by Jim Robert Bader)  
House of the Miroku

Ranko Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Akane, Apprenticed Time Cop, Holder of the Pendant, "Heart of Destiny"  
Silver Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Anything Goes Ryu Kachima Tendo -Daughter of Ranma and Nabiki, Lore Master in Training.  
Tenma Saotome -Son of Ranma and Kasumi, Jedi Knight Bonbon Toru -Daughter of Tofu and Shampoo, Force Master Onnama Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Ryoga

Tsuyori Kuonji -Daughter of Ranma and Ukyo, Part Kitsune Fox Bukotei Mido -Daughter of Dan and Miko, Ninja Fan-Dancer Kitten Saotome -Daughter of Ranma and Shampoo, Miroku Sexcraft Ninja Koi Mido -Daughter of Dan and Miko, Miroku Sexcraft Ninja

"All right, Girlfriend!" Silver taunted, "Show me what you've got!"

"Okay, you've asked for this, Silver-mane!" Ranko replied, a smile on her lips as the two of them prepared to meet in the field of battle...albeit a most unconventional sort of challenge match for both of these young martial artists. For one thing they were preparing to grapple more than exchange the usual kicks, punches, jabs and other such violent exchanges.

For the other thing they were both utterly and completely naked, their bodies oiled to a slick smoothness, their hair hanging loosely in their usual coiffure patterns of warrior's braid (Ranko) and Amazon Odangos (Silver) though both girls were pledged to avoid hair-pulling or anything that might be considered rude and "out-of-bounds" treatment! (Only Ranko's locket remained of her personal articles, and it was held contained within a pouch that was wound up with her hair-braid so as not to get in the way for this particular battle)

And-watching attentively from the sidelines-their friends and fellow travelers through the sidereal timestream sat together with four members of the clan of the Miroku: Tsuyori, Bukotei, Koi and Kitten-sisters all and proud of the fact-  
who were serving as both referees and judges of the impending cat-fight. Of the four new houseguests: Kachima, Tenma, Bonbon and Onnama, only one was male while the others were round-eyed, even Kachima seeming to gape in open admiration of those spectacularly nude bodies on display in contrasting relief, Silver gleaming like her namesake while Ranko had that well-bronzed sheen that implied a healthy dose of outdoor living.. Neither one had any tan lines and both looked spectacularly healthy with dueling bustlines that were simply to die for and narrow waists that vied with broad hips to form perfect hourglass figures of burnished athleticism.

"Oh my," Tenma breathed, tempting his fianc e with the urge to have him blindfolded.

"Hmm," Bonbon mused speculatively, "This one's half sister is a true Amazon born, but does she fight as a worthy student of your father?"

"Count on it," Onnama replied for her, "No way would Pop let any one of us neglect our training."

"Indeed," Kachima mused, "But were they trained for sport such a this? I somewhat doubt that either one of them learned this sort of recreational match from either version of our parents."

"All right," Tsuyori called out, "I want a dirty fight with hands below the belt, no unauthorized moves save those designed to inflict humiliation and/or submission in your opponent, and absolutely everything else legal. Keep your hands low and your minds filthy. Begin!"

The four newcomers thought as one that this was the strangest thing for a referee to say, but then again that the Anything Goes system did make allowance for unconventional behavior...

But then they saw Silver and Ranko go at it, and the term "Unconventional Behavior" began to take on an altogether different meaning than that for which their prior acquaintance...

Silver went in first with a series of thrusts aimed below the belt that had to be fended off by Ranko, who blocked each one while attempting to make similar moves against her opponent. They danced around the room trying to hook each others legs with their bare feet while their hands met in a number of attempts to grab each other by the wrist or some other outstretched portion of their anatomy. Ranko and Silver seemed almost to be dancing across the floor as their bare feet shifted constantly to give their stances added power and leverage, and all the while they were smiling at each other, grinning even as though relishing the thought of what might happen should either one of them gain a momentary advantage.

"How odd," Bonbon remarked, "They do not seem to be acting aggressively with each other."

"Yeah," Onnama agreed, "They've past up on countless openings where they could take a free shot. All they seem to wanna do is lay their hands on each other."

"That is the idea, I suspect," Kachima mused, "And the first one who loses their advantage must submit herself to the winner."

"Submit?" Tenma arched an eyebrow, "In what way?"

"You will see," Tsuyori grinned knowingly, urging them to continue watching the fighting.

Silver and Ranko decided to up the ante, aiming their sights a little higher as they again sought to grapple and gain a purchase on one another. They were fully aware of how their audience was looking on with confusion, or of how their OTHER audience (the one hidden near the rafters and looking on from positions of concealment) were getting a good show of the two of them going at it together (not that they minded, of course, wishing their Miroku kinsfolk much entertainment from their slick and well-oiled bodies in glistening motion), but if they thought that these opening moves were something, they were about to get a load of what these two were really capable when they really got going!

And so they began to include kicks and higher hand-thrusts within their repertoire, and to add some aerial ballet to the mixture, leaping high into the air (grateful that the Miroku believed in high ceilings) to begin exchanging rapid body motions as they once again sought to gain advantage over one another, knowing that the first of them to slow down would likely be the one to lose the match.

"Wow," Onnama said, "First time I've ever seen anybody attempt Judo like that."

"It is almost as though they defy the pull of gravity," Bonbon remarked.

"Not to mention the laws in seventeen prefectures and about forty different counties," Koi seemed almost remarkably proud of that singular statement.

"Indeed," Kachima agreed, "And they certainly are very...pneumatic in their presentation, eh brother?"

"Ah...I suppose that is one way of putting it," Tenma agreed with a faintly sheepish expression, gaining a momentary cross look from his iinazuke.

"You haven't seen anything just yet," Bukotei remarked with a smile, "We've trained these two for precisely this moment."

"This is a grudge match you're seeing go down here," Kitten agreed, "Why do you think we had them shave their pussies before this whole thing started?"

"I had been wondering about that part," Tenma said with lifted eyebrow, unable to help conjuring up memories of seeing the two girls (now currently competing together) take a moment during which they were made to lean up against a table on opposite ends while one of the two Miroku girls took a razor to their lower furry quarters, cleaning both girls as smooth as a baby's whiskers down there while two other Miroku proceeded to oil down their bodies, using hands rather liberally to feel the two contenders up and down (not that either Ranko or Silver appeared to mind the attention). Just watching that part had made sitting down VERY uncomfortable for the Shiatsu-trained Jedi-turned-Medical student. Nor did he judge himself to be the only one affected, if the flushed complexion and husky breathing of the apprenticed Lore Master, Kachima were any indication.

The oil massage had continued when the two Miroku using razors paused to clean their charges off, first using hand-towels for the shaving cream then moving their mouths into position and briefly performing a therapeutic use of Cunnalingus to excite both of the now bush-bald prospective fighters. These oral hijinx lasted just long enough to get things started, and then the now-  
slick and aroused Silver and Ranko had readied to do battle of a different sort, which brought Tenma's mind up to the rather astonishing present.

Those two were now going at it in a series of bouncing maneuvers that treated the solid wooden floor like it was a trampoline, meeting in mid-air for some writhing, lithesome, full-body acrobatics that made an interesting play over their too-perfect anatomies, causing muscles to ripple and knot in some very interesting...

"Oh my," Tenma gasped, suddenly finding a sitting position was NOT the most comfortable one a reasonably healthy man could ask for...and yet he was oddly thankful that he was too calm to experience the phenomenon of nosebleeds!

The battle raging above the floor was now shifting to levels that might be considered impossible for anyone less limber than a Saotome trained in the Anything Goes Ryu. The daughters of Akane and Shampoo fought like the laws of gravity and inertia did not apply to them, and the things they could do in their air made their duel seem more like a dance with no true animosity, only a fervent desire for one to gain the advantage over the other.

"Airen," Bonbon remarked in a too-casual manner, "That had better be your lightsaber poking out between your trousers if you know what is good for you."

"Urk!" the normally calm Tenma responded.

"Don't be angry with him," Bukotei urged, "His reaction is perfectly normal for a healthy adult male."

"If you want to take advantage of his excitement," Koi added slyly, "It should take very little effort to redirect his attention back in your direction."

"Oh?" Bonbon asked, trying not to sound too interested in the suggestion.

Silver thought she saw an opening and dove into the attack, managing to get behind Ranko and position herself to slip her arms around for a "Full Nelson" grapple. She had avoided using the obvious Shiatsu maneuvers because she wanted Ranko to be fully functional for the fun she had planned next. Of course, no sooner had she slipped her arms around Ranko's arms and waist, then Ranko arched her back and used her legs to grapple Silver, and then the two of them tumbled in mid-air until the both landed on the floor with the both of them locked in a two-way grapple. Ranko managed to leverage one free hand and used it to press off the floor, sending them airborne as they once again attempted to perform aerial Jui-Jitsu, again countering each others moves before they could be completed.

"They do seem to be rather well matched," Kitten observed.

"Think so?" Kachima smiled, "That's about to change in another few seconds."

For a moment the two antagonists met on the ground and paused in the middle of one of their exchanges. Up until then they had been moving so fast that they barely registered as a blur, but now each was frozen in a particular stance, Silver with a fist outstretched while leaning forward in a classic thrust stance with Ranko blocking the punch with her forearm while her other hand had snuck in past Silver's defenses. Silver was looking down at her with annoyance and took notice of where that hand was currently positioned, covering Silver's groin area with one finger buried in the slit formerly covered by white bush. Ranko grinned up at her in a cocky, almost challenging manner.

"Do you mind?" Silver growled softly.

"Not in the least," Ranko leered, "This is Anything goes, remember?"

A moment later they parted company again, only to immediately lock horns again as they fought for position, only Ranko turned herself sideways at the last instant and managed to slither around like a well-oiled seal and come up behind her opponent from below, tripping Silver up and spilling her face-forward onto the mat. Silver caught herself in time with both hands against the floor, but now Ranko had the advantage and wasted no time using her leverage to pin her opponent to the mat, placing a hand between Silver's shoulderblades and saying the word, "Gotcha!"

"Hey, no fair!" Silver protested, trying to free herself as the Miroku counted down a three-second count.

"No way!" Ranko grinned, "I got your ass this time, lover-girl!"

"Oh yeah?" Silver grunted as she sought to regain leverage, "Just give me a minute and you'll be eating those..."

"TIME!" Tsuyori announced, "Victory to Ranko, a hands-down decision!"

"What?" Silver protested, "No way!"

"Yes way!" Bukotei grinned, "You know the rules...two points, one victory, no second decisions."

"She scored first with a finger to the crotch area," Tsuyori said serenely, "And the pin marks your second loss, which concludes the match in Ranko's favor."

"By the rules of the house you now effectively belong to her for the next twenty-four hours," Koi added, "Loser always submits and becomes property of the victor until the end of the next day."

"That means you have to do whatever Ranko tells you to do until this time tomorrow," Kitten added with a sweet grin, "She can use you as she wills and you can't say or do anything to protest or even say no to her without paying a penalty, such as a spanking."

"This is how we settle disputes within this house," Tsuyori sagely nodded, "It would have been the same had you won over Ranko. Sister dear, have fun. She's yours to play with for the duration."

"Great!" Ranko grinned broadly.

"Ah..." Silver said nervously, "Can't we make it best two out of three?"

"No way!" Ranko stated categorically, "You heard what they said, I own your ass, Girlfriend."

"Then we shall leave you to your endeavors," Tsuyori smiled as she got to her feet, "Come along, Sisters."

"Ah...do we have to leave?" Koi complained.

"We'd like to stay and watch," Kitten pouted.

"Not this time around," Bukotei replied as she urged the others to follow, "This victory belongs to Ranko, and she's asked to be left in privacy while she savors her victory over our sister, Silver."

"I guess it would be rather rude to watch," Tenma said, "Not to mention very awkward."

Bonbon noted the way her fianc e was moving very carefully as though favoring his crotch and got a very speculative look on her own lovely features.

"Yeah," Onnama was just then saying, "I'm not sure I'd way to stick around and watch this scene. Gotta feeling it's gonna be rated X in the next minute."

"Count on it," Kachima paused by the door and said, "I do hope you have fun, but I plan to be looking you up later on, after I finish taking a tour of this lovely establishment."

"Enjoy the sights," Ranko waved a hand pleasantly, keeping her other hand firmly pressed on Silver's backside, holding her facedown on the mat, "I know I sure did..."

"Er...what exactly is it you're gonna do with me?" Silver asked with increasing nervousness, then felt Ranko's other hand caress her fanny and said, "Oh."

"An interesting question," Ranko turned a lascivious leer her way, "What shall I do with you? I know..."

And with that she began to run her fingers up and down the cleft in Silver's fanny, lightly caressing her now-bald loins with gently stroking fingers. Silver let out a sigh and found her body was arching at the sweet sensations this caused along her sensitive nerve endings. Ranko's other hand began to caress Silver's back muscles, brushing aside the other girl's long frosty mane of hair while Ranko felt along the edges of the various nerve-clusters that she found there. As her finger probed more gently around the expanding nub that was all showed of her clitoris, she found and moved her around the edges, creating some interesting sensations that helped inspire Silver into relaxing and going with the flow, allowing Ranko to further possess her as she stroked delicate nerve endings and elicited from Silver a hearty groan of approval...

"Sounds like they're gonna be having fun for a bit," observed Onnama.

"Indeed," Kachima mused as they followed their hosts further into the sprawling complex known as the House of the Miroku, "I wouldn't mind staying to watch myself, but I suspect that there will be other attractive sights found within the next few minutes..."

Silver hardly registered these words as she became enormously aware of Ranko's fingers and what they were doing, exploring her nether regions. Two fingers now were probing her depths and finding all kinds of interesting nerve clusters that were making her groans all the more heartfelt. Ranko lifted Silver's ass a bit higher, then paused to toss something to Silver's side that-much to her surprise-was a comforting pink pillow. Without asking where the redhead had obtained the object she picked it up and slide it under her face, then settled down on the new padding as Ranko resumed her finger manipulation, waiting for just the right moment and then bringing her face down to Silver's exposed loins and applying her lips and tongue to begin suckling the tender pink flesh that unfolded at her invitation.

Though she had anticipated the oral sex, the sensation of Ranko gently eating her out caused Silver to moan as though she were being impaled by a tongue. The slow thrusting and swirling motions Ranko used to paint the interior of her sex made the bitter pill of forcible surrender a lot easier to swallow, and without a second thought she surrendered herself to Ranko and commended her body to whatever her paratime sister had planned for the evening.

Ranko smiled as she savored once more the delicious honeysuckle flavor of Silver's loins, quite liberally using what she had learned from the Miroku about Cunnalingus to bring her new "Pet" to the edge of total ecstasy within a span of only seconds, then to hold her there without pushing her all the way over into full orgasm. The noises Silver made at first conveyed the expectation that she would cum at any moment, but when she was denied an orgasm it elicited in her another type of groan, this time one of frustration. As Ranko prolonged her agony and continued to build up increasing pressure for a climax, Silver started to writhe and bury her face in the pillow, struggling to stay up on her knees as that tongue dove in deeper and more lovingly into her moist folds, swirling around and flickering around rich nerve clusters that sent jolts up and down her spine and made her toes curl with the need of full satiation.

"Oh!" Silver jolted as she felt her body spark without quite reaching a true climax, "You Bitch!"

"Maybe so," Ranko smiled as she paused in her plunge to get a taste of cream on her tongue, "But you're my Bitch now. You wanna know the best way to eat a girl out? You start with the clit and you use the English Alphabet system to tongue you all the way."

"English Alphabet system...?" Silver said hoarsely, when Ranko dove in again, this time avoiding the vulva and going down instead for the knobby little nub of flesh that was key to any woman's greatest pleasure. With dramatic flourish Ranko began to draw the Phonetic letters: "A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-" and by the time she got to "I" she succeeded in finally sending Silver right over the edge, and as Ranko sensed the blonde's body tensed for her climax she left off her alphabet lesson and immediately clamped her mouth and tongue over the labia her nose had been teasing and readied herself for the spurt of juice she knew would be forth-cumming.

And-as the Miroku had taught her to expect-with Silver came she came like a gusher! Had Ranko not acted to contain the rush it would have splashed her in the face and coated her with sticky-clear Cum-juice. Instead she was able to take it in her mouth and start swallowing it down as fast as Silver's loins could produce it, allowing Ranko to eat away hungrily at this "liquid lunch" from a "hot-box" far more tasty than any Bento! The mere act of being eaten out sent Silver reeling over the edge once again and she exploded with a secondary orgasm that-like an Aftershock to a major quake-shook Silver's world to the very rafters!

Far above them from the observation booth, Kama-Sutra (daughter of Miko Mido and Ranma) smiled with approval, her hands at play over the naked flesh of her fellow Miroku "sister," Omake (daughter of Kasumi and Ranmaru), who had lost a similar such match earlier in the day and was now honor-bound to serve as her plaything.

"Oh yes," Kama mused, "Ranko is certainly showing great promise as an honorary Miroku, don't you think, Sister?"

"Oh yes," Omake's voice was heavy with lust, and not just because of where Kama's hands were currently playing, "And that Silver is certainly getting a taste of what it means to win through losing. She has no idea what all is in store for her, and I think that's delicious."

"Indeed," Kama replied, "Let's watch a little longer, then you can show me your clever tongue-work, my delightful little plaything."

Omake's already lascivious smile deepened as she relished the thought of eating out her older sister. Kama was part Shikima, and as such her loins had a powerful aphrodisiac-like quality that could spur even a Miroku to heights of sexual ecstasy no artificial drug could ever hope to imitate. Kama was a very loving and generous Mistress and would happily return the flavor, as Omake's loins were tingling with the need to be eaten, and only her discipline as a Miroku kept her from fingering herself off as she relished the thought of being ravaged and ravaging her ravishing older sister.

Ranko, meanwhile, was feeling deliriously happy at being able to drink Silver semi-dry, but she knew better than to remove all of the much-needed lubricant as things progressed to the next level of her fiendish intentions. Silver had just experienced the pleasure that a woman could give her with her mouth, but there was another side to Ranko that was eager to be let out. Moving away from Silver's crotch she moved her tongue to Silver's nether opening and began to swirl it around at the gate of the blonde girl's sphincter.

"Oh...what are you doing...H!" Silver groaned, "Whatever it is...don't stop, please!"

"Don't worry," Ranko said as she finished applying some of the cum she had left in her mouth to the opening of Silver's rectum, "I'm only just getting started."

This time she used her fingers to rub the cum-juice into the opening, gently forcing it down to help lubricate the way as Silver gasped and shuddered at the unexpected sensations this caused her. More and more of the cum was gently eased into the opening until Silver's rear-gate was slick and easily smooth enough to slide a finger in without much effort, then two fingers joined the first and with three fingers of one hand she eased the rest of the cum into the opening gap as Silver relaxed her sphincter even more to accommodate the intense pleasure this gave her. She was now helplessly at the mercy of those fingers and could only hug her pillow as she found a forth finger following the rest until Ranko's hole hand seem to be following it, though in truth Ranko did not go as far as she might if she wanted to further force the issue.

Rather Ranko was pleased to find the way was now cleared for her real intentions, and as she saw one of the Miroku pad into the room with a tray upon which was set a glass of water and a tea kettle she grinned all the more with anticipation. Silver was so far gone into the sensations Ranko was causing her to experience that she never even noticed the pause as Ranko took the glass in hand and slowly poured it over her own head, triggering her transformation to male status. All Silver knew of this was that the hand in her ass got noticeably bigger, but other than that she seemed to have no anticipation of what else was about to fill her.

Ranko paused long enough to muse on the old saying, "Revenge is a dish best served cold," but what she had in mind was definitely a hot one, and what a dish to be served into! Silver definitely had a "cute rounded ass" that just begged to be entered, and Ranko-kun knew that it would be rude not to enter, so she removed her hand from the hole, causing Silver to gasp and sigh with relief at the easing of the pressure, though she was not long to have a respite from this particular action!

Silver was just barely aware of what was going down when she felt something softer enter her rectum, something long and smooth that easily glided against the lubrication of her cum to bury in deep all the way, filling her up to capacity and causing her eyes to go wide with a sudden realization.

"What? You-!" she gasped as Ranko-kun began to grind his pelvis against hinny.

"Now you know what it feels like," Ranko smiled, "I couldn't walk straight for a couple of days after your last plunge into my asshole. Now have a taste of your own medicine, and I hope you like your tasty cream filling!"

"OOOOHHH-!" was all Silver could manage to say as Ranko-kun inched his way in and out of the hole, moving his hips to grind his "meat" against her lining. The sensations this caused were enough to stifle any belated protest as Ranko-  
kun proceeded to give back as good as he had gotten on a previous occasion, before a week-long training session in the Miroku house had sharpened his techniques and taught him how to take full advantage of his masculine assets (to say nothing of what she could do as a woman!).

"Oh yes!" Kama mused as Omake started to play with her nipples, "Tsuyori has done well in training her, and now sister-brother Ranko will share the benefits of her training."

"Permission to go down on you now, Oneechan?" Omake asked in a throaty voice.

"I thought you'd never ask," Kama replied, and urged her pledge-bound "love-  
slave" to put to work a demonstration of her "oral" tactics...

"Ah, revenge is sweet," Ranko-kun sighed as he eased himself a couple of inches out of Silver's ass, then forced his way in once again as Silver groaned into her pillow and took it all the way, amazed that she was not about to split in half at this "saw blade" working its way in and out of her most private (and second favorite) port of access...

"So...uh...hey," Onnama said as she studied the architecture of the wide-open garden area of Miroku House, "What's the story about this place you guys have set up here? I mean...a theme Restaurant I can work with, even one that has Ninja as its theme, but a restaurant that doubles as a sex clinic and a dojo? Now that's pushing it even by my admittedly loose standards."

"The House of the Miroku is an honorable establishment with a very interesting and colorful history that we of the older generation know by heart," Tsuyori explained, "But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to share our family's personal history with you, my kinsfolk. I'm sure you will be amazed and entertained by such a story."

"I should think so," Kachima mused, "Beginning with your ties to the demon race known as the Shikima. Your clan leader is herself part Shikima, as I correct?"

"You got it," Kitten said, "Miko Mido is the den mother to all us Miroku, and the reason all of us are here today, though I guess equal credit could also go to Pop and Auntie Ukyo."

"Ah yes," Sakura mused, "My parents, truly a match made by the Gods, though in truth it's really a team effort with all the adults having done their part to make a home for we of the second generation."

"Actually the roots of the Miroku go back into early Japanese history," Bukotei further noted, "Back to the time when the Shikima first made their presence known in Japan, seeking to make a foothold on the Earth by which they could invade and conquer the human world, and they might well have that if our earliest ancestors hadn't learned effective means of fighting them through sexcraft."

"Sex Craft?" Tenma asked.

"You mean what those two were doing back there in place of fighting?" Bonbon wondered.

"Sexcraft is the Miroku art passed down for generations in the form of a sexually oriented martial arts system," Tsuyori replied, "Combined with conventional Ninjutsu it can be a very effective self-defense technique against even power threats to the security of our family unit. The Miroku clan was founded to provide a place of learning in this art for the sake of the preservation of human civilization against the forces out there that would seek to destroy us."

"You sure that's it?" Onnama asked, "That isn't just a fancy excuse for lots of hedonistic sex and debauchery?"

"Well, there is that too," Kitten said, "But just because we like to have fun is no reason to fault us. It's not like we agree with people who think that life is all about suffering, denial and privation."

"Yeah," Koi agreed, "Why should we carry the burden just because of some sour grapes by some crab apple moralists and reformers?"

"Ideals are wonderful things," Kachima said, "So long as they are based on valid precepts. Too many who pretend to be moral are indulging in sophistry and self-indulgent wishful thinking based on provincialism and myopia. I've encountered a good many people who mistake abstinence for purity and egotism for enlightenment. I think having a good life means leaving yourself open to the possibilities life offers, and in that regard you are certainly far ahead of the sort who thinks of himself as an upright and moral person."

"Well, not to fault those who have different beliefs or ethics," Tsuyori began, "But the principles we live by are the pragmatic result of many centuries of discipline and experience. It all began in the dark and chaotic times of early Japan when the Shikima first made their presence known in this world. Like all true Demons, they were drawn to human emotions of greed, lust and carnality, the darker emotions of human existence. Whenever evil acts prevailed, the barriers between their world and our own would weaken, and conventional forms of spiritual magic proved less than fully effective in combating them. At first only a few creatures were able to cross over, but as they became more and more aware of our world the Shikima plotted to move in and take over, at first in small raids where they would terrify villages and prey upon the people of the country, but in time they grew strong enough to form alliances with humans who would serve their needs and do their bidding. These dark times were the lawless era when Japan was torn by civil war, and strife was the common lot of ordinary humans."

"But then the Miroku came to power and brought order to this chaos," said Bukotei, "They learned the arts of sexcraft and grew stronger over the course of generations to where they could match their prowess with the arts of the Shikima. It was about at the same time that King Sikima came to power, filling the void left in the Shikima realm left by the vicious tyrant of a Demon Lord who came before him. Sikima-though arguably far from a fallen Angel-sought to ally himself with the Miroku and gave us a token of this pact that helped seal the rift between our worlds, and through this alliance we helped bring order to the human realm by siding with the Shoganate that rose from the ashes of the feudal era."

"That was roughly four hundred years ago," Koi noted, "And a period of relative stability came to pass with the Miroku standing as guardians between the worlds of both humanity and the Shikima."

"They still crossed over into our world in small groups and outlaw bands," Kitten noted, "But the Miroku would be there to do battle against those who broke the peace of King Sikima. We had clan members seeded throughout all of Japan with different safe houses where women trained themselves in the arts of Sexcraft."

"But our success brought with it the jealousy of rival Ninja clans," Tsuyori continued, "Who resented the power and influence of the Miroku. Chief among those was the Suzuka clan, our former rivals, now honored clan mates. Over time the balance of power would rise and fall between us, but in the end the Miroku clan would maintain its preeminent position."

"Yeah, but it isn't all that pretty," Koi noted, "I'm both Miroku and Suzuka by birth, and King Sikima is my grandfather on Mom's side of the family. I've heard Momma tell about the story of a Miroku woman named Amaterasu who stole much of her knowledge in Sexcraft from a Suzuka Lord whose mastery had no equal. She seduced him and learned his craft, then murdered him and returned to the Miroku clan to assume the rank of clan leader. It was what began a two-century feud between our two houses that wound up costing us some of our best warriors on both sides. In the end the war almost exterminated both sides as Suzuka and Miroku battled out to the last in the time of our parents."

"It was so bad that the Mido clan was nearly wiped out, except for Momma Miko and Aunt Miyu," Kitten added, "Uncle Dan, Uncle Ranmaru and Aunt Botsasu were the only ones left from their branch of the Suzuka clans, and that was only after Uncle Dan was forced to slay his evil brother in battle after Lord Susano became a demon and tried to overthrow Lord Sikima."

"Sounds...kinda familiar," Onnama said a bit evasively, "So...this Dan guy married Miko Miyu and brought and end to the clan wars?"

"More or less, yes," Tsuyori replied, "Of course Uncle Dan was really in love with my mother at the time, but when the adults formed the group marriage concept it seemed to satisfy everyone's needs and provided insurance that both clans of Miroku and Suzuka would be able to regenerate their losses in a single generation. Of course, that is getting a bit ahead of ourselves here. The real story is that of Momma Miko herself, the daughter of Lord Sikima and the Lady Maria of the Miroku family known as Mido, the traditional leaders of all the Miroku houses. Miko-sama was intended to be the go-between between two worlds, but her very creation put the Suzuka into a state of alarm as they feared she would signify their permanent relegation to obscurity among the clans of the Ninja."

"Small chance of that," Bukotei sniffed, "But all that did was set the backdrop for what was to happen. The real crisis happened when a renegade Suzuka by the name of Kugutsmen seduced a Miroku woman named Kamiri, and the two of them plotted the downfall of both the families. Aunt Yaku's clan village of the Midori family was all but wiped out by these traitors as a token of vengeance for a wrong done to Kamiri, so they could obtain an cursed sword called Zipang and attempt to use it to kill the King of the Sikima. This set in motion a chain of events that centered around Lord Susano's dark ambition, which was only thwarted when our parents-meaning Aunt Miko, my mother, Miyu, Aunts Ukyo and Yuka, combined their energies to help bring an end to the crisis, with Uncle Dan providing the fatal blow that killed Susano and ended the threat to the Shikima."

"Yeah, and a good thing that was, too," Koi averred, "If grandfather had bought it, then both the Shikima and human realms would have fallen to Lord Susano and he would have unleashed hell on earth in both realms. Imagine...no woman would be safe in her own bedroom at night, and normal means of law enforcement would have been powerless to cope with creatures that can polymorph and phase through solid objects."

"As it is, we help provide a buffer in more than one sense of the word," Kitten revealed, "Shikima who abide the King's law can get their rocks off with us instead of normal girls who lack our training. We're always happen to court these guys since they have ways of ringing a girl's chimes that ordinary boys just can't compete with."

"Not that we don't keep in practice by working on each other," Tsuyori noted wryly.

"Sounds to me like you just like a good excuse to party," Onnama sniffed.

"So who needs an excuse?" Bukotei smiled, "We consider what we do a public service, so where is it written that we can't enjoy our work, eh?"

"You actually enjoy consorting with creatures as vile as what you are describing?" Bonbon marveled.

"Hey, Shikima aren't all that bad as Demons go," Koi said a bit defensively, "Compared to some other types of demon races, they're practically angels."

"Maybe we're a bit biased," Kitten admitted, "But we know a lot of Shikima on a first-name basis, but some other types of demons aren't out just to have a good time and to party. Some demons we've gone up against have even been pretty downright nasty."

"That's where the other half of our art comes into play," Tsuyori noted, "And our combat skills, backed by our Sexcraft, makes us more than formidable in that department."

"So, your folks brought an end to a clan war and united the clans to put an end to the division," Tenma said, "And after that they set up this dojo disguised as a restaurant in which to conceal your training?"

"That's more or less it," Bukotei replied, "The center of Clan Miroku is known as the International House of Okonomiyaki, run by Tsu-chan's mother, where most of us work during regular business hours, in and out of attending a local high school."

"Some of us go anyway," Koi replied, "The older kids study for college, but mostly we help out with the family business...both businesses, when you come down to it."

"And someday maybe we'll have kids of our own to train," Kitten mused, "Either here or in branch franchises should we choose to diversify, but for now we keep things in the house where our defenses are strongest and we can all enjoy the company of our sisters, brothers, parents and loved ones."

"Do you ever take anyone on who isn't family?" Onnama asked.

"Well...it has been known to happen on occasion," Tsuyori revealed, "But true mastery of Sexcraft requires a total mind and body commitment, and for that it helps if you've been given the right sort of training from childhood."

"Fortunately we've had very good teachers and role models in the arts of the Hentai," Bukotei winked, "Grandfather Happosai and Grandmother Nodoka, for example, who told us lots of naughty bedtime stories in between our martial arts training."

"Not to mention instill in us proper family values," Koi added with a smirk.

"Which translates as: 'Screw unto others as you would have others screw unto you,'" Kitten finished with a smile worthy of a Cheshire.

"We also take on challenges from students and masters of other schools who want to challenge the Miroku for their preeminent position in the field," Tsuyori added, "Like those Amatsu twins who came here a few months back...remember them, Sisters?"

"Oh yes," Bukotei smile, "A couple of twin dolls who came here because they were having what they termed as a 'real problem,' namely that their mutual charisma was having an adverse effect on them and nearly all of their classmates."

"Turns out they had Tengu Angel blood in their ancestry, about a thousand years going back," Koi duly noted, "It gave them both a personal charisma field that strongly affected the sex drives of everyone around them, most especially kids in their own age group, both male and female."

"But we turned them around and showed them that this isn't such a problem," Kitten winked, "And now they've come through with flying colors as a couple of Twin Love Angels, thanks to the training they received here in the house of the Miroku."

"And then there was that girl from the Mano Clan of ancestral Devil Hunters," Tsuyori noted with a fond smile, "Turns out her mother was related to us, and a good friend of our parents, so after we got through helping with her...ahem...education...she graduated on to become the 110th Devil Hunter of this generation."

"Only she discriminates between Devils who are out to hurt people and Demons who just want to have a good time hanging out with human ladies," Bukotei added with a fond smile, "Sort of a case of the Devil you Blow and the Devil you don't."

"But why Sex craft?" Bonbon asked, "It is simply because of your ties to the Demon realms?"

"Are you kidding?" Koi replied, "Sex is the basic fundamental secret of the universe, the ultimate expression of the Yin and Yang of existence."

"It's like positive and negative poles balancing and shifting," Kitten elaborated, "Within all of us exist the hard and soft elements of life itself, and by learning to master and balance these forces we learn to tap into the Universal power of life itself, which makes everything possible and nothing beyond the reach of the Miroku."

"Besides which," Kachima smiled, "It's all in the name of good clean fun."

"Exactly," Tsuyori winked, "Can you think of a stronger motivation for us to practice and perfect our techniques, enduring great toil and labor for the reward of becoming accomplished Ninja."

"It does sound as if it has its...compensations," Tenma said delicately, then noticed the looks turned his way, most especially by his comely fianc e, "What?"

Bonbon was the first one to recover from a virtual facefault as she asked, "Why do demons seek sexual congress with human females? Do they not obtain sufficient pleasures from females of their own species?"

"Honey," Kitten said, "Some guys don't know when enough is too much, and it's only natural that they go for a hot-blooded number like me rather than hump some dried up old prune, like great-great-grandmother likes to pretend to be around customers and strangers."

"Demons are rather discriminating in how they choose their victims," Koi explained, "And to their way of thinking, human girls are easy prey when compared to their own oversexed female counterparts. They like to focus on virgins and inexperienced girls who can give them less of a struggle overcoming..."

"So we Miroku have to keep an eye out all the time that they don't go after any of our classmates," Bukotei added, "And we also consider it our sacred task to lower the number of virgins these guys can go after, not to mention making sure most girls have some mental and emotional resilience that will help them to cope with an attack if we don't happen to be there on the occasion."

"There are also a number of significant dangers that come with being a Virgin in most occult circles," Tsuyori further noted, "That's why they are so highly sought in magical rituals where demons attempt to summon other demons. Of course no Miroku can be accounted a virgin from the day we first learn how to give and receive pleasures."

"I guess you guys don't put a lot of stock on 'safe sex,' huh?" Onnama remarked.

"In our line of work there's no such thing as 'Safe' sex," Bukotei answered, "We're more in the line of thought that goes something like: 'A well armed Hentai is a Polite Hentai," and anyone who tries to challenge us had better be prepared for us to blow their socks off."

"Fascinating," Kachima mused as she surveyed the garden that was just outside the nearest window, "And this whole complex takes up an entire city block in the center of the Furinkan Financial district...as a matter of fact, occupying the block that normally would house a rather more modest Okonomiyaki shop in the world that I hail from. But I am curious about this lovely indoor garden you have in the center of the complex...for example, is that a waterfall and a lagoon I see from here?"

"Why, as a matter of fact it is," Koi replied, "Would all of you like to see it close up?"

"Would I?" Onnama grinned, "That sounds great!"

"Keep in mind," Kitten said, "Nude bathing isn't just optional but required if you want to go skinny dipping. Don't need those nasty suits to trap in body moisture and pollute our nice, clean water with bacteria and unwashed body oils."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Tenma said, then winced as Bonbon gave him a punch to the elbow, "Ow! What did I say?"

"I see no problem in going native, under the circumstances," Kachima smiled, "By all means lead the way, I would love to sample such a natural-seeming setting and bask in the warm atmosphere that your parents have created.

"And we'd be only too happy to have you," Tsuyori replied, implying more in her smile than was overtly admitted to in her statement.

Bonbon saw the predatory looks turned towards her company by these "hungry" Miroku women and felt an impulse to reach for her man to declare her possessive intentions...but for the lingering sense that she was also considered to be "on the menu" leaving the Nursing assistant and Apprenticed Jedi Force Mistress to wonder what sort of "lion's den" they had wandered into, and whether or not it would be a good idea right then to keep an eye out for the exits...

Not that she expected that she would get very far if she tried to haul Tenma out of there, but it was at least somewhat reassuring to mentally prepare for all eventualities as the Force of female Libido was not to be underestimated...

3.

"Well, here we are again," mused a leather-clad Ranma to his lovely companion, Nabiki.

"I know," his wife replied, "Miroku House, where we got married only a week or so ago. Here we will find our sex-crazed counterparts living a life of debauchery and unbridled carnal lust, and where every end is a happy one, tingling with a sense of fullness and fulfillment."

"Yeah," Ranma agreed, "Lucky bastards. Of course, you know if we go in there we're gonna get talked into joining another no-holds-barred all-out sex-swapping orgy where we'll be asked to perform with all the ladies, including equivalents of yourself and both of your sisters. Sure you wanna risk it?"

"I think we both can manage it this time around," Nabiki mused, "Provided you're willing to abide by what passes for house courtesy, which includes pleasuring the Ukyo, Shampoo, Kodachi and Akane who live here. Of course I may also have to oblige their equivalent of you and the other men of the house, including Lord Dan and Ryoga..."

"Or that hermaphrodite guy, Ranmaru?" Ranma countered, shaking his head in disbelief, "Can't figure out how a place like this can even exist, but I can't argue that it's a thriving concern where everyone seems happy..."

"Not to mention the fact that you effectively have nine wives and an equal number of children," his recent bride pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Well...guess there's some good and bad in every universe," Ranma shrugged, then paused as he turned a disbelieving look at her, "NINE WIVES AND NINE KIDS?"

"You didn't count them when we were here last?" Nabiki asked innocently, "Of course that's only counting the children ABOVE the ages of puberty and all that, whereas my counterpart only has one daughter in that age group, and she was 'fathered' by another woman, so don't feel as if you have any monopoly on astonished reactions."

"Hooboy," Ranma shook his head, "Nine kids...amazing the guy ain't exhausted from all that hard work..."

"Just don't get any ideas about starting up your own harem," Nabiki warned, "It's all well and good to indulge in a fling, especially since I'll be right there with you sharing in the action, but when it comes to the rest of our married life, I intend to make my claim on you a solo package."

"Nag, nag, nag," Ranma sniffed, "Now wonder they call it 'the old ball and chain.' Ever think I might have the same thing about you, Nabs? Ain't like I'm looking forward to seeing another guy stick his thing into your box."

"And that's another thing," Nabiki said archly, "These nick-names, 'Nabs' and 'Nabby,' that is going to stop right now, Mister, or I'll be forced to resort to extreme measures of retaliation. Is that clear, Rans-baby?"

"Clear as glass," Ranma said with a patently innocent expression on his face, "So...you wanna go in or should we just make like a couple of tourists and gawk all night?"

"We go inside," Nabiki said resolutely, "Ranko is in there, and I want to have words with out wayward adopted daughter. Also too, I intend to have a few things to say to our Miroku-trained counterparts concerning something that I just found out about their idea of a 'wedding present.'"

"Huh?" Ranma blinked, "How is that?"

"Let's just say...that our counterparts appear to also be a collection of rather impractical jokers," Nabiki said evasively, "And that they left us with a legacy to go with our marriage license. I think they meant it as a favor, but I would have preferred the courtesy of being asked first before they did it."

"What?" Ranma asked, "That orgy thing they roped us into?"

"Not that...at least, not exactly," the Lore Master said with an unreadable expression on her lovely face, "Let's just say that the incident is partly related to what I've just discovered through a bit of internal examination. In retrospect I wonder that I didn't know about it right away...but at the time I was...somewhat distracted."

"Uh...yeah," Ranma said sheepishly, "I guess that's one way of putting it. Some wedding, huh?"

"Memorable, in more than one sense of the word," Nabiki agreed, then started forward to the front of the restaurant, compelling Ranma to follow her lead, all the while wondering what had come over his normally indomitable partner but deciding against asking her directly. Nabiki would let him in on what she knew as soon as she was ready to make her thoughts plain, but in the meantime she was obviously steeling herself to confronting the owners of this rather unique establishment, sensing-as he knew her so well-that whatever secret was bothering her it was bound to prove to be quite a doozy...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Maternity Blues: shadowmane

Can you guess what's "bothering" Nabiki at this point? You can bet that when he finds out, Time-Patrol Ranma is going to be MOST surprised (read: ASTONISHED!) at the revelation. Meanwhile Ranko is going to have more "fun" with her new silver-haired plaything, and the rest of the kids will be scoring their share of points with the Miroku. Stay tuned for Part Two, where things really get into high gear in: "Love is a Pain in the Ass," or "Moon over My Mammy!" Be there!

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